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cea ae RR tect aman eetneee crameeeteeemene oe eee eee | 


No. 2. RAMESKHS II. 


No. 4. SETI II. 


THE PHARAOH 


Ol THE BONDAGE. 


JON. J ra Ll the ON Bone 


OF THE 


PREPARATION OF THE WORLD 


FOR 


CHRIST. 


Rev. Davip R. iesen. D._D: 


SECOND EDITION; REVISED AND ENLARGED. 


FLEMING: H. REVELL COMPANY; 
Publishers of Evangelical Literature, 
NEw YORK: CHICAGO: TORONTO. 


Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 
eighteen hundred and ninety-one, 


By Davip R. BREED, 


in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


CopPpyRIGHTED 1893, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY. 


All rights reserved. 


PREFACE. 


While the subject which is treated in the following 
pages is not a new one, there is no work devoted to 
its.separate consideration. There are books in which 
certain phases of providential history are discussed, 
and many in which events, as they pass in review, are 
appropriately attributed to the divine direction of 
human affairs. But it has seemed to me that there 
was a distinct call for yet another volume, in which 
such events should be treated comprehensively under 
a single title and with exclusive reference to the 
redemptive purpose of God. Such a work should 
prove a welcome help to Bible students, such as can- 
didates for the ministry, Sunday-school teachers and 
others in training for Christian work, and indeed to 
all who desire a better understanding of the conditions 
under which the Gospel was originally proclaimed. 

While it may not be necessary for one to acquire a 
general knowledge of history in order to read the 
Bible to ‘his own salvation, yet the story of Redemption 
is invested with a deeper meaning and conveys a much 
more impressive lesson when one has first obtained an 


intelligent apprehension of the nature of mankind’s 


iv. PREFACE. 


departure from God, and of the method employed to 
lead it back to himself—the preparation of the world 
for redemption and the preparation of redemption for 
the world. 

One thus instructed will understand not only 
the connection between the Old Testament and the 
New, but the relation of the times before Christ to 
those since Christ; he will behold in history the pro- 
gressive outworking of a great and gracious plan. 

This will sufficiently indicate my object in the prep- 
aration of the present work, It is commended to 
those classes which I have had in mind. I have en- 
deavored to consult their needs in the material em- 
ployed and in the method of its arrangement. I give 
also in the foot-notes references to a number of books 
which are within easy reach, for the benefit of the 
interested reader, who desires to substantiate the state- 
ments made or pursue them at greater length. 

I sincerely desire that the volume may be of real 
service; increasing the knowledge of redemption, lead- 
ing some to the Saviour and promoting the glory of 


God. 


Davip R. BREED. 
CHICAGO, Sept. 1891. 


PREFATORY NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 


A second edition of this book being called for, I have 
embraced the opportunity to make a number of important 
additions, including two entire chapters (V. and XII.), 
which seemed to be required in order to the full presentation 
of my theme. 

Certain valuable works, which have appeared since the 
publication of the first edition, have been consulted and the 
material thus furnished has been embodied in the text and 
indicated in the foot notes. The last edition of Brugsch, 
however, has added nothing and altered nothing, so that 
the references to the original work in two volumes remain. 

I wish to express my gratitute for the kind reception 
given to the work and my deep desire for its yet greater 


usefulness. 


Davin R. BREED. 
CHICAGO, May, 1893. 


CONTEN ES: 


ParT I. INTRODUCTORY: PERIOD OF INCLUSION. 


Giver. Seite CHOSEN “LAND. 


Location; Seclusion, 138; The Jordan Valley, 14; The 
Desert, 18; The Sea-Coast, The Mountains, 19; Highways, 20; 
Climate and Resources, 22; Compared with Egypt, 23; Cli- 
matic Zones, 26; Vegetable Products, 27; Minerals, 30; Popu- 
lation, 81; Special Sections—Decapolis, 32; Plain of- Jezreel, 
382; Shechem, 338; Hepron, 34; Accessibility, 35. 

Cuap. I]. THe CuosEn PEOPLE. 

The Era of Inclusion, 89; Chaldzea and Abraham, 40; The 
Era of Seclusion, 42; The Chosen Race, Persistent Vigor, 48; 
Other Abrahamic Races, 47; Disposition, 50; Language, 51; 
The So-Called Monotheistic Instinct, 56. 


Part II. PERIOD OF SECLUSION: SEMITIC 
SUPREMACY. 


CuHar- tile “Eure SCHOOLING oF ISRAEL. 


Israel led into Egypt, 63; Egypt under the Hyksos, 64; 
Tanis-Zoan, 68; Joseph and his Brethren, 69; School begins, 
74; The Expulsion of the Hyksos, 76; Hatasu and Thothmes, 
Tocmiune scl X= Dynasty, oO; Rameses Il, Sesostris, $1; Tanis 
rebuilt, 86; The Oppression, 91; Egyptian Idolatry, 94. 


Cuap. lV. Tur Apoprion oF ISRAEL. 


The Training of Moses, 102; The University of Thebes, 
108; The Choice of Moses, 107; Moses in Midian, His Com- 
mission, 110; Condition of Egyptian Affairs, 111; The Nature 
of the Conflict, 115; The Course of the Conflict, 119; Deliver- 
ance, 124; Effect upon Egypt; Effect upon Israel, 126. 


Cuap. V. THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


The Wilderness, 130; Preliminary Discipline, 182; Special 
Discipline, 185; The Book of the Covenant, 140; The Moral 


Vill CONTENTS. 


Law and the Ceremonial, 143; Final Lessons, 145; Death of 
Moses, 147; Effects, 148. 


Cuap. VI. Tue Hope or ISRAEL. 


The Primitive Hope, 153; The Patriarchal Hope, 166; The 
National Hope, 161; The Hebrew Investiture, 165; The Period 
of the Judges, 167; Samuel to Solomon, 174; Political Decline; 
Brightening Hope, 180. 


Part III. Prriop or DirFusION; JAPHETIC 
SUPREMACY. 


Cuap. VII. Tue GREAT OVERTURNING. 


Nebuchadnezzar, 188; The Medes and Persians, 191; Cyrus, 
' 192; European History begins, 193; The Second Exodus, 194; 
The Religious Effect, 195; The Political Effect, 198. 


Crap, VIII Tue Great INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


The Mission of the Greek, 205; Greek Colonies, 206; Greek 
Thought, 209; Early Philosophers, 210; Socrates, 219; Influ- 
ence of his Philosophy, 224; Plato, 280; Aristotle, 233. - 


Cuap. IX. Tue HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


Exit Socrates; Enter Alexander, 239; Accession of Alex- 
ander, 242; Conquests of Alexander, 245; Influence of Alex- 
ander, 247; Succeeding Effects, 252; Division of his Empire, 
Results, 255; The Diadochi, 258; Antioch and the East, 260; 
Alexandria and the South, 264; Rome and the West, 268; Hel- 
lenism and the Jew, 270. 


Cuap. X. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JEW. 


History of the “Grecian,” 275; The Jew of Alexandria, 
280; The Septuagint, 284; Other Graeco-Jewish Literature, 259; 
Philo of Alexandria, 298; His Education, 294; His Peculiar 
Work, 295; Effects, 3038. 


Cuap. XI. Tur UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


Prophetic Forecast, 307; Early History of Rome, 310; 
The Empire; Julius Casar, 313; Augustus, 319; Roman Law, 
322; Roman Citizenship, 827; Roman Roads and Travelers, 
330; Results, 334. 


CONTENTS. 1X 


CuHap. XII. THE CONSOLIDATION oF ISRAEL. 


The Return from Babylon, 837; Hellenism and Judaism, 
339; Political Consolidation, 840; Antiochus Epiphanes, 341; 
The Asmonezans, 343; Judas Maccabeus, 840; Successors of 
Judas, 849; Jewish Independence, 350; Effects, 853; Herod the 
Great, 355; Religious Consolidation, 8357; The Chasidim, 358; 
Literature of the Period, 859; Scribes; Rabbis, 362; Hillel, 364; 
Pharisees, Sadducees, 365; The Sanhedrin, 868; The Temple, 
369; John the Baptist, 370. 


Parr 1V.. THe KiIncpom or HEAVEN AT. HAND. 


CuHaP. XIII. THe DEsPpAaIR oF HEATHENISM. 


Sources, 875; Roman Liberality, 8376; Growth of Supersti- 
tion, 880; Skepticism, 884; Connection with Greek Philosophy, 
389; Revolt, 8392; Epicurean and Stoic, 393; The Final Condi- 
tion; Despair, 397; Intense Desire, 400. 


GrArPex LV... Lune W ORLD JovVING  ING.VW ICKEDNESS: 


Early Roman Virtues, 405; Conquest and Corruption, 406; 
Political, 410; Social, 418, Dependents, 415; Games, 421; Do- 
mestic, 425; Religious, 428. 


GHA PONG acaselenk, EhULENESSZOR ULIME.. 


The Jew in History, 482; Extent of Jewish Dispersion, 
435; Jewish Expectation, 4386; Jewish Influence; Heathen 
Monotheism, 440; Proselytes, 442; Heathen Hopes, 448; Dei- 
fication of the Emperor, 447; Extent and Significance, 453. 


Cuap. XVI. Jesus AND THE RESURRECTION. 


The Struggle after Unity, 459; Unity the Key to the Gos- 
pel, 463; Unity by Reconciliation, 465; Unity in the Incarna- 
tion, 467; The Preaching of the Apostles, 471; Conclusion, 
475. 


MAPS, CHARTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 


MAPS, CHARTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CoLORED MAPS. 


Palestine fo... os 0 haigs8is siete te thee oreo ee ee before page 11 
Egypt under Rameses I1............--+-+000- cs ie ti 
The Roman Empire... 0: 0 seats! + ve eee “4 ee 9) 


PLAIN MAps. 


Horeb, “The Mount of God” .7..,... ses see page 136 
Alexander’s. March) « . .'.5.2 sole se 20 ores ZOU 
Palestine under the Maccabees and Herod...... face “ 387 
CHARTS: 
The Bondage and Exodus........ 00. sj. sets ene page 113 
The Hope of Israel... 2. 00.0.0 2 Vs ce oer “« 164 
The Five ‘Centuries before Christ. 7.1.0 4... ieee ce 202 
The Asmonsans ...ee.-0s00+ 5355 oe enone “ ©6852 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
The Pharaohs:‘of the Bondage:: (1a. em woos L TONGS piece. 
The Fountain of Jezreel’.’....c0e face page 33 
Tpsamboul cn ee ieee seis ee alee ee a = 81 
The Ramesseum Restored... ...:.'... sen eee 6 8d 
The House.of Seti... 360. .d we ce 6 103 
Greek Temple at Pestum’... -5 0.2)... € 207 


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INTRODUCTORY: PERIOD oF INCLUSION. 


“When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when 
he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people accord- 
ing to the number of the Children of Israel.” —Deut. xxxii:8, 


CHAPTER J: THe CHOSEN LAND. 


GraptEeR ll: slHE CHOSEN. PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER I. 
LHR GHOSENTIEAND: 


Strictly speaking, the preparation of the world for 
the coming of Christ dates from the beginning. Christ 
is the ‘Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” 
But the formal preparation of the world for redemp- 
tion, and of redemption for the world begins with the 
call of Abraham. In that call there are three great 
coincident events—the organization of the Church of 
God, the founding of the Jewish Nation and the occu- 
pation of the Promised Land. In the design of the 
Almighty it was necessary to preserve the Church 
within the limitations of the nation, and to preserve 
that nation by its sequestration in a suitable land. Had 
it been his desire simply to communicate to some single 
man, and to his descendants, a knowledge of the truth, 
this would not have been necessary. Abraham might 
have been chosen, instructed and invested with a cer- 
tain heritage of faith, while he and his posterity were 
still permitted to remain at his old home in Chaldea. 
But in the design of God to extend the knowledge of 
the Messiah, and of the way of salvation to the whole 
world, it became necessary to prepare a chosen nation 
and to locate them in a chosen land. Abraham was 
not bidden to depart from Chaldza simply because of 
its heathenism; for the iniquities of the Canaanites, 
among whom he was sent, were even more abominable 


(1) So Schaff—Church History, §8; and others. 


I2 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


than those of the more cultivated people of Chal- 
dea, out of which he had been called. But Chaldea 
was an altogether unsuitable land for a nation charged 
with such a mission to the world; nor could there have 
been found in the countries immediately adjacent, nor 
in fact in any land except that to which the steps of 
Abraham were directed, a proper place for the devel- 
opment of such a nation as the Israelites were to be- 
come. We therefore read that the “Lord had said 
unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from 
thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land 
that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great 
nation * * * and in thee shall all families of the 
earth be blessed.” We shall discover as we proceed 
that in the choice of this people and in the choice of 
their land the Almighty had at that early time antici- 
pated the whole course of history, and inaugurated a 
plan which it was never necessary subsequently to 
modify. | 

‘So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto 
” and about 2000 years, B. C., entered the Land 
of Canaan. At that period the nations of the earth 
were just emerging from the darkness of their mytho- 
logical night, and almost at this exact point, the 
authentic history of the world begins. There are 
no records remaining of any of the nations which 
existed prior to this time, except those of Chaldzea, 
out of which Abraham was called, and of Egypt, 
in which for a season he sojourned; and the records 
of these countries are brief, and in a state of unintel- 
ligible confusion. This fact will bear repetition and 


(2) Gen. xii: 1-3. 


him; 


THE SECLUSION. OF THE LAND. 13 


emphasis—that the call of Abraham and his settlement 
in Canaan are coincident with the beginning of 
authentic history. 


EOGATIONF OF “CHE LAND: 


The land of Canaan, which was to be the home of 
Abraham and his descendants, is located about mid- 
way between Chaldza and Egypt. In comparison with 
other countries which have exercised any considerable 
influence upon the world, its size is exceedingly small. 
From north to south it measures about 150 miles; 
while the average breadth from east to west, includ- 
ing that portion east of the Jordan which was settled 
by the Israelites, is about 60 miles. Its area corre- 
sponds approximately to that of Wales or Massachu- 
setts. But its very insignificance served the purpose 
of God. ‘This purpose was two-fold: first, to preserve 
the identity of his people by a careful seclusion, especi- 
ally from those great empires whose acquaintance 
would have been a means of moral corruption; second, 
to furnish them a central point of influence, from which 
their principles and hopes might be easily and naturally 


diffused. 
THE SECLUSION OF THE LAND. 


The seclusion of the people was secured by certain 
physical peculiarities of the land which have no paral- 
lel elsewhere on earth. They were separated from 
the great Oriental monarchies on the east by the 
desert, and by the vast fissure of the Jordan Valley. 
They were separated from the empire of Egypt upon 
the south by that “great and_terrible wilderness” 
which lay between the Valley of the Nile and Southern 


I4 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


Palestine. They were separated from the nations 
that should arise in the west by the Mediterranean 
Sea; and from those upon the north by the mountains 
of Northern Galilee. ; 

We shall note some of the particulars of these physi- 
cal features, beginning with the Valley of the Jordan. 


THE JORDAN VALLEY. 


The meaning of the word is ‘The Descender,” im- 
plying in the original the rapidity of its current. ‘This 
is the name uniformly applied to it in the Scriptures. 
While other streams may bear the prefix ‘ brook” or 
‘‘river,” this one is always called simply ‘‘ The Jordan.” 

Its total length in a direct line is only 1o4 miles. 
It is thus about one-half the length of the River Thames 
in England, and less that one-half the length of the 
Hudson River. It issues from a cave near the site of 
Cesarea Philippi, and after flowing about five miles, 
unites with a second stream descending from Mount 
Hermon. Its source is about 1000 feet above the 
Mediterranean. Its mouth, where it enters the Dead 
Sea, is 1292 feet below the Mediterranean, thus giving 
to the river a total fall of about 2300 feet. 

The fall of the river when first leaving the Lake of 
Galilee is 40 feet to the mile, and in the next 60 miles 
the fall is 610 feet. With such a current it becomes 
virtually impassable, except at a small number of fords. 
The Arabs of the present day enumerate some forty 
of these, but they are mostly passable only in the sum. 
mer. The well-known fords are four in number: the 
first two just below the Sea of Galilee, now marked 
by remains of Roman bridges; the third at the con- 


THE FORDAN VALLEY. I5 


fluence of the Jabbok; and the fourth opposite Jericho. 
During the larger part of the year the stream is a tor- 
rent confined in a narrow channel between precipitous 
banks; tortuous, treacherous, and hidden by a dense 
jungle; this jungle, and the terrace on which it grows, 
extending the entire length of the stream. It is thus 
described by a modern traveler: 


“A ride of three-quarters of an hour brings us on a desolate 
expanse of gray salt mud to the mouth of the Jordan. In dry 
weather the gray mud is encrusted with salt and gypsum and 
occasional layers of sulphur and oxide of iron. The river itself 
lies completely out of sight. Never, except from some com- 
manding height, can a glimpse be caught of the silvery bead 
which marks its course, until within two or three miles of its 
end when its forest fringe ceases; but its course can everywhere 
be traced by the deep green ribbon of foliage just peering above 
the upper banks, the tops of the trees which mark its border. 
All along this lower plain there are three sets of terrace banks. 
The old bed of the river, or rather the upper end of the lake 
where the mud deposits were laid against the slopes of the 
enclosing mountains, was about sixteen miles wide. This is the 
plain on which Jericho and Gilgal stood. Then we have the 
higher plain, which even now on rare occasions is flooded. This 
is covered with shrubs and scant herbage. Close to the river’s 
bank we descend fifty-five feet into a dense thicket of tamarisk, 
silver poplar, willows, terebinth, and many other trees strange 
to European eyes, with a dense and impenetrable undergrowth 
of reeds, and all sorts of acquatic brushwood. It is perfor- 
ated in all directions by the runs of wild boars, which literally 
swarm here; while the branches are vocal with myriads of birds. 
It is a startling contrast suddenly to descend into this narrow 
belt. Beneath this shade the Jordan, generally not above fifty 
yards wide, hurries on, in its tortuous but rapid course, muddy 
and dark, dashing from side to side, and forming curling eddies 
at each sharp turn, generally most difficult to stem and in most 
places too deep to ford, having generally ten feet of water. It 
is, however, easy enough for an expert swimmer to get across 


(4) Sinai and Palestine ,; Stanley, p. 290. 


16 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


by choosing a spot just above one of these sharp turns, and 
steering himself with the stream until he strikes the opposite 
bank.” ©) 

It must be remembered in this connection that the 
Jordan of to-day is scarcely the Jordan of former ages. 
The destruction of the forests in Palestine has to some 
extent altered the character of the stream, giving to 
it a more unequal flow of water; but it appears that 
even as it is to-day, it would offer a serious obstacle to 
an invading army, or a passing caravan, consider- 
ing that even in our times, he must be an “expert 
swimmer ”’ who ventures to cross it. During the time 
of the Israelitish occupancy it was absolutely impass- 
able at certain seasons of the year. Even the fords 
of Jericho, where travelers were accustomed to cross, 
could not be attempted. Such was the condition of 
the stream when the Israelites under Joshua attempted 
its passage. ‘‘ Jordan overfloweth all its banks at the 
time of harvest;”® and its waters were consequently 
miraculously divided, as those of the Red Sea had 
been before. 

But the current of the Jordan 1s only a single item 
in the protective character of the western border. 
The eastern cliffs are very steep and rent by gullies 
of appalling depth. On the western side, towards 
the land of Israel, they are not so precipitous, but rise 
to greater heights; so that the Mount of Olives, which 
is 2700 feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea, 
is about 4000 feet above the Jordan at Jericho. It is 
apparent, then, that the traveler who went from Jeru- 
salem to Jericho, and “fell among thieves,” is aptly 


(5)Canon Tristam in Picturesque Palestine, Vol. I, p. 164. 
(6) Joshua iii: 15. 


LEE VFORDAN VALLEY. ary 


described by the Saviour in his parable as “ going 
down” from the former to the latter place. 

The distance from Jericho to Bethany is only fifteen 
miles, so that the average ascent is 266 feet to the 
mile. In order to apprehend the extreme severity of 
such a grade it may be borne in mind that the average 
grade of the Simplon Pass, the colossal masterpiece of 
the first Napoleon, connecting Geneva and Milan, is 
only 190 feet to the mile. 

Mr. Edward L. Wilson, the distinguished photo- 
grapher and /¢¢erateur, whose lantern slides of three 
continents have been exhibited to admiring audiences 
the world over, thus describes his own journey over 
this road: 

“The climb from Jericho to Bethany is one of the most ex- 
asperating in Judea. There are a number of routes, but if any 
one is chosen sorrow is sure to follow the preference. After 
climbing say five hundred feet, turning, one may gain an appre- 
ciation of the true depression of the site of Jericho and of the 
Dead Sea. Now, the path runs up rocky defiles amid chalk hills, 
through stony valleys, and over blighted soil, up, up in the sun, 
until the tops of two giddy fragments of masonry are seen. 


These are in Bethany and form part of what is called the house 
of Martha and Mary.” @ 


The country was thus furnished by the Jordan with 
a wall and a fosse which were ordinarily impassable. 
But still beyond the Jordan lay that extension of the 
African desert which contributed still further to the 
separation of the land from the nations on the East. 
Around this desert Abraham himself traveled upon — 
his way to the promised land, going far to the North, 
following the Euphrates for 600 miles; and around this 


(7) Century Magazine, April, 1888. 


18 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


desert even Alexander the Great himself, a man who 
did not suffer himself to be deflected by ordinary ob- 
stacles, was obliged to march after the subjugation of 
Egypt on his way to the fatherland of Abraham. 


THE SU ESE Rats 


Passing now to the south the peculiarity of the 
desert between Palestine and Egypt, and its influence 
as a factor in the seclusion of Israel, cannot be better 
described than in quoting from Dean Stanley an ac- 
count of his own experience while crossing it. He 
Says. 

“ The day after leaving Ayoun-Mousa was at first within 
sight of the blue channel of the Red Sea, but soon Red Sea 
and all were lost in a sand-storm which lasted the whole day. 
Imagine all distant objects entirely lost to view. ‘The sheets 
of sand fleeting along the surface of the desert like streams 
of water, the whole air filled, though invisible, with a tem- 
pest of sand driving in your face like sleet. Imagine the 
caravan toiling against this, the Bedouins each with his shawl 
thrown completely over his head, half of the riders sitting back- 
* wards, the camels meanwhile thus virtually left without guid- 
ance, though from time to time throwing their long necks side- 
ways to avoid the blast, yet moving straight onward with a 
beneficent sense of duty truly edifying to behold. I had thought 
that with the Nile our troubles of wind were over, but (another 
analogy for the ships of the desert) the great saddlebags act 
like sails to the camels, and therefore with a contrary wind are 
serious impediments to their progress. ‘Through this tempest, 
this roaring and driving tempest, which sometimes make me 
think that this must be the real meaning of a ‘howling wilder- 
ness,’ we rode on the whole day.” 


He also adds the following foot-note: 


“YT have retained this account of the sand-storm chiefly 
because it seems to be a phenomenon peculiar to this special 
region. Van Egmont, Niebuhr and Miss Martineau all noticed 


LHE SELA-COAST. ge) 


it; and it was just as violent at the passage of a friend in 1841 
and again of another two months after ours in 1853.” ®) 


Such was that “Great and terrible wilderness.” 


" says Ebers, ‘ and could I illus- 


bavV cles la painter,’ 
trate Dante’s Inferno, I would have pitched my camp 
stool here and have filled my sketch-book, for there 
could never be wanting to the limner of the dark 
abyss of the pit, landscape, savage, terrible, immeasur- 
ably sad, unutterably wild, unapproachably grand and 
awful.” 
Tike SEA OAS TS 

Passing to the west we observe the sharp contrast 
between the coasts of Palestine and those of the neigh- 
boring countries. The shores of the Land of Israel 
have no indentations, no large rivers, and no deep 
havens, such as in ancient times, without the improve- 
ments of subsequent invention, were even more neces- 
sary than now for the protection of shipping. The 
entire extent of their sea-coast is unbroken except by 
the Bay of Acre, which furnished the only harbor. It 
was a very poor one, however, because so shallow; the 
only anchorage being on its extreme south, under the 
fe-woteCarmel.”™ (Che other landine-places, such»as 
Joppa and Cesarea, were in no sense harbors, but the 
most exposed and open roadsteads. Palestine could 
not be successfully invaded, then, from the west, either 
by conquering enemies or inquisitive friends, 


PE EAMOUNTATING, 


On the northern frontier the double ranges of 
Lebanon formed two important ramparts; the 


(8) Stzat and Palestine, p. 68. 
(9) Kzttto’s Cyclopedia ,; ‘““Accho,” 


20 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


gate between, indeed, was open, but it was easily 
cuarded. 

: These were the natural fortifications of that land, so 
aptly described by Isaiah in his song of the vineyard: 
‘‘HfYe fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof, 
and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower 
in the midst of it.” And in the succeeding warning, 
“T will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be 
eaten up, and break down the wall thereof and it shall 
be trodden dowa.”°” Or in the parable of the Saviour, 
“A certain man pianted a vineyard and set a hedge 


about it 
HIGHWAYS. 


The land thus fortified could not be easily traversed. 
Those highways from nation to nation which passed 
through it were built with difficulty, and generally 
avoided the interior. The location of the Roman 
roads, which must have followed, in the main at least, 
former routes of travel, are well known.“ From 
Egypt the road to the north passes through Gaza and 
follows along the sea-coast. This would seem to be 
the most natural and easy route; yet the plain along 
the Mediterranean is in Northern Galilee hardly a mile 
broad upon the average, and between the cliff and the 
sea there is at times barely room for a narrow road, 
while in some places, indeed, a passage has had to be 
cut out in the rock. The main road from west to 
east begins in the Bay of Acre, passes up the plain of 
Esdrelon to a point near the ancient Jezreel, then over 
the mountains north of Gilboa to the Jordan, follows 


(10) Is. v: 2, 5. (12) See Map. 
(11) Mark xii:1, 


HIGHWAYS. PAGE 


up the Valley of the Jordan for about five miles, and 
then strikes off toward the east. The road from 
Egypt to the north and east passes through Petra 
southeast of the Dead Sea, thence through Heshbon 
and Rabbath-Ammon, avoiding Judea altogether. 
These were the three principal routes of travel, and 
the roads in the interior were taken only by those 
whose objective point was one of the towns of Israel.” 
It was due to these peculiar physical features of the 
land that the people of Israel experienced that pro- 
found quiet which was substantially unbroken for 
centuries. It is true that there were- wars between 
the Israelites (or certain tribes of them) and _ the 
original possessors of the land which had not been 
driven out; and that certain sections were overrun for 
brief periods by their predatory hostile neighbors on 
the east and south. But these were matters of little 
consequence as affecting the general state of quiet 
and security which they enjoyed. 

In the meantime, in the period which elapsed be- 
tween the entrance of the Israelites upon their posses- 
sion and the death of Solomon, the foundations of the 
well-known nations of antiquity were laid. But while 
they were still in their traditionary age, the people 
of Israel, in their sequestered land, had attained the 
very summit of their national glory, perfected their 
political system, erected their glorious temple to 
Jehovah, and were established in those elements of 
spiritual power which were to be the source of all 


beneficent influences. 


(13) Hastory of the Romans under the Empire, Merivale, ch. xxix. 


THE CHOSEN. LAND. 


fo 
bo 


CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 


A people thus kept to themselves must necessarily 
find in their own country, small though it be, everything 
essential to their well-being; and the land of Canaan 
is no more remarkable in those unusual physical feat- 
ures which shut it out from other lands, than in those 
equally remarkable climatic features by which its 
people were enabled to shut themselves in to them- 
selves—the fertility of its. soil, its mineral wealth, and 
its rich and varied vegetation. 

At the time of Abraham’s entrance it must have 
presented a very fair and lovely appearance to the eyes 
of the pilgrims who had been accustomed to the bare 
and monotonous plains of Mesopotamia. At that day 
there were but two towns of any importance east of 
the Jordan, Ramoth Gilead and Kir Moab. A dense 
population cultivated the tropical valley of the Jordan 
and the plain of the Dead Sea, but beyond this to the 
west, until the Phoenician settlements upon the coast 
were reached, there were but few colonists. Palestine 
proper contained but two respectable cities, Shechem 
and Hebron. ‘These and a few villages comprised the 
whole settled population. The hillsides had not yet 
been terraced and very few spots upon the plains had 
been, as yet, disturbed by the plow. The scattered 
timber lining the water-courses or dotting the moun- 
tains in irregular clusters, gave to the landscape the 
appearance of a park, and its whole aspect fulfilled 
its description as a “ Land of Promise.” 

The pastoral patriarch could lead his flocks where 
he would, so long as he refrained from the only breach 


GOMPARE DD WIL “EGTPT. 22 


of early international law—an attempt to seize the 
wells of other tribes.“ 

The population. greatly increased between the time 
of Abraham and that of Joshua, but the character of 
the country was not altered. Moses described it to 
the people he was leading thither in these words: 


“The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land 
of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of 
valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig- 
trees and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive and honey, a land 
wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not 
lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of 
whose hills thou mayst dig brass.” (5) 

And again: 


“The land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and 
valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven, a land which 
the Lord, thy God, careth for. The eyes of the Lord, thy God, 
are always upon it from the beginning of the year, even unto 
the end of the year.” (16) 


COMPARED. WITHe EGYPT. 


The people to whom these words were spoken 
would, in their imagination, compare the land which 
was thus described with the wilderness through 
which they had passed; and more particularly, with 
the land of Egypt, out of which they had come. 
They would remember that the land of Egypt, 
where they and their fathers had been dwelling, 
was habitable only in the delta of the Nile, and in the 
narrow strip of land upon its borders, which it was 
possible to irrigate. ‘They would remember also that 
the productions of the land of Egypt were for these 


(14) Canon Tristam in the Yournal of the Victoria Institute, No. 82. 
(15) Deut. vill: 7-0. CGM eutexiet lesloe 


24 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


reasons limited; and they would look forward to the 
land which had been promised to them with inexpres- 
sible longing and delight. They were not to be dis- 
appointed. The land as it is now seen by travelers is 
scarcely the land into which the Israelites entered and 
where they continued to dwell. It has been’ greatly 
modified by neglect and waste on the part of its 
inhabitants and governors. Its forests have been cut 
down. ‘The surface soil, where it was formerly sus- 
tained by terraces, has been washed by the rain into 
the valleys and carried out to the seas. The rock- 
hewn cisterns in which, during the rainy seasons, they 
were accustomed to store an abundance of water, are 
destroyed or fallen into decay. The network of water 
pipes for irrigation are now only faintly traced in the 
ruins that remain. In some few favored spots may 
still be seen the remains of those works originally 
built by the predecessors of the Israelites, and into the 
enjoyment of which they entered, an illustration of 
which appears in the remarkable cultivation still sur- 
viving in the terraces of Mount Lebanon. 

Dr. George E. Post, of Beirut, an eminent authority 
upon this subject, declares that Syria and Palestine 
are suffering in common with all the East from the 
denudation of the forests and the consequent diminnu- 
tion in the rainfall, and the irregularity of its advent; 
although at the present time increasing cultivation and 
tree planting on Lebanon and in the maritime plains 
is exercising a favorite influence upon the climate 
and water supply. Could the heights of Lebanon be 
again clothed with their forests of cedar, a great 
change would come over the whole country. The 


COMPARL OD” Witt “HGl PT, 25 


rains would set in earlier, continue later, come more 
mildly, and be less frequently accompanied with their 
present destructive floods. 

In the days of Israelitish occupation, however, there 
were abundant springs on the very summits of the 
highlands, some of which still flow at Hebron, Nablous 
and in other places. A few are yet found in the 
immediate neighborhood of Jerusalem, while more 
than forty may be counted within a radius of twenty 
miles. The mountains of Gilead are also rich in 
fountains, supplying several perennial streams. 

These fountains indicate the former condition of the 
country. ‘There were two rainy seasons. The “early 
rain,’ commencing about the first of November, and 
Ciomeattcr rain, sine pril. ) (he ‘vearly ‘rain’ was 
the more abundant, and fell during four months. The 
seasons, in consequence, were characterized by re- 
markable regularity. Famine was infrequent,“ and 
we hear of no very extended suffering in consequence 
thereof until the reign of Ahab. 

Up to the time of Christ and the “beginning of 
sorrows’ under the Romans, the land continued as it 
had been, and was capable of sustaining a vast popu- 
lation; though 


«¢ Now all is changed—all save the changeless things; 
The mountains, and the waters, and the sky— 
These, as He saw them, have their glory yet.” 
* * * “Dead lie His once fair fields; 
Barren the fallows where His sower sowed; 
None reaps the silver harvests of His sea; 
None in the wheat-row roots the ill tares out. 


(1%) Fournal Victoria Institute, No. 80. 
OSs)iSee Ruth 1: 1, and 2 Sam. xxicr. 


26 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


The hungry land gasps empty in the glare; 
The vulture’s self goes famished; the wolf prowls 
Fasting, amid the broken stones which built 


The cities of His sojourn.” * * * 

* * * «The ways have shrunk 

Into a camel-path; the centuries 

With flood, and blast, have torn the terrace bare 
~ Where the fox littered in the grapes.” (9) 


CLIMATIC ZONES. 

The land, though so small, has four distinct climatic 
zones. The extensive maritime plain and the Valley 
of the Jordan give rise to important contrasts. From 
its proximity to the sea the former region is much 
warmer than the highlands. The mean annual tem- 
perature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit. ‘The harvest ripens 
two weeks earlier than among the mountains. Citrons 
and oranges flourish. The second zone consists of the 
highlands. The average temperature of Jerusalem, 
which may be taken as a fair illustration, is 62 degrees. 
In this climate the grape, the fig, and the olive thrive. 
The third zone is that of the Jordan Valley, which is 
tropical. It concentrates the full radiance of the sun, 
rarely mitigated by any cloud, though chilled at times 
by the north wind. It is. parched by the south wind 
from the desert, and sheltered from the moist sea 
breezes of the west. Here the palm-tree grows in 
great perfection. Jericho, the “‘ City of Palm Trees,” 
was considered by Mark Antony a gift worthy to be 
bestowed upon Cleopatra. ‘Phe fourth zone consists 
of the elevated region east of the Jordan, with an 
extreme climate, the temperature rising during the 
day to So degrees, and sometimes falling during the 

(19) The Light cf the World, Edwin Arnold. 


VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, 27 


night below the freezing point. But there is a large 
precipitation, rendering the country desirable for graz- 
ing purposes. 


Veli DAB EES RODUGLIS: 


A land with such a varied climate could, of course, 
be made to produce every plant that is useful to man. 
The oak, the pine, the walnut, the maple, the alder, 
the poplar, the willow and the ash grow luxuriantly 
- on the heights of Northern Galilee. Here the traveler 
from the more temperate lands finds himself in the 
midst of the vegetation of his own country. He sees 
the apple, the pear and the plum; wheat, barley, peas, 
potatoes, cabbage, carrots and lettuce. But in other 
sections of Palestine the traveler from more southern 
countries is no less at home. He will recognize the 
well-known forms of the oleander, the willow, the 
sycamore, the date palm, the pistachio, and the tall 
tropical grasses and reeds. He’may eat such fruits as 
the date, pomegranate, the orange, the banana, the 
almond. His eyes may be gladdened with the sight 
of fields of cotton, millet, rice, sugar-cane, indigo, 
tobacco, and other southern crops. Thus this little 
land of Palestine reproduces climates and zones which 
in other countries are separated by hundreds of miles. 

Dr. Post, of Beirut, in an address recently made 
before the Victoria Institute, claims that no other 
country in the world yields so large a number of food 
articles as Palestine. He gives a summary as follows: 

“The table-lands of Palestine, east and west of the Jordan, 
are about 2500 feet above the Mediterranean. The climate is 


(20) Life of Christ, Geikie, ch. ii. 


28 THE CHOSEN’ LAND. 


considerably cooler than that of the semi-tropical maritime 
plains, and the rainfall in winter is abundant. * * * In 
closing, it may not be amiss to allude to the range and number 
of plants cultivated with ease in the open air of Syria and 
Palestine. 

“ WVigella arvensis, L., is raised from the black seeds which 
are known as the el-Habbat-es-sanda (the black seed), or Hab- 
bat el-Barakat (the seed of blessing). These seeds are sprink- 
led over the surface of the flat loaves of bread. They are the 
jitches of Isaiah xxviii,25-27. Theopium poppy, Papaver somni- 
ferm, £.,is common in cultivation, though opium is not made 
in Syria. The capsules are used in making sedative effusions. 


“Of Cructfers we have black and white mustard, cabbage, 
cauliflower, turnips, cresses and radishes. 

“ Flax, rue, sorrel and cactus, Hicus Indica grow wild. 

“The Vine, with an endless variety of fruits, is universal, 
even to the height of 6000 feet above the sea. 

“There are maple, tamarisk, terebinth, Schoemus, Pride of 
India, and jujube trees. 

“The lemon, orange and citron are cultivated everywhere 
along the coast, from Tripoli southward. 

“Of Leguminose the number of cultivated plants is very 
large—lupine, beans, horse-beans, peas, lentiles, Czcer arietinum, 
mash (a species of Phaseolus), carob-trees, acacia (the shittim 
of Scripture), and the locust; the latter introduced. 

“Of Rosaceous plants, the strawberry, blackberry, peach, 
plum, almond, apricot, nectarine, apple, quince, medlar and 
Photinia Japonica, all flourish. Syria is pre-eminently a rose 
country, most cultivated varieties attaining an excellent develop- 
ment. 

“Of Grossudacee there are none which succeed well in this 
land, although gooseberries and currants have been cultivated. 

“The pomegranate is indigenous in the north, and the myrtle 
every where. 

‘“¢ Fucalypti flourish in marshy ground. 

‘“‘ Watermelons, musk-melons, squash, pumpkins and cucum- 
bers all reach a fine development. 

“Of Umbellifere, the coriander, dill, fennel, caraway, anise, 
celery, parsley, parsnip and carrot either grow wild or flourish 
under cultivation. 


VEGETASLE PRODUCTS 29 


«Valerian grows wild, as also carthamus, chiccory and lettuce 
of several kinds, and artichokes are cultivated. 

“ Of Solanaceous plants the potato, tobacco, tomato and egg- 
plant are cultivated, and henbane and nightshade grow wild. 

“The sesame forms a considerable part of the produce of 
the plains. 

“The olive flourishes everywhere, and yields a considerable 
part of the wealth of the country. 

“ Figs, sycamores, mulberries, hemp and the ramie (Chinese 
silk) plant, all flourish. 

“The plane tree, the walnut, the edible pine and a consider- 
able variety of oaks, the hornbeam and the beech, are abundant, 
the latter two especially in Northern Syria. The castor-oil 
plant is almost universal. 

“Of monocotyledons, the palm, the banana, many liliaceous 
flowers, the Colocasia antiquorum (which is cultivated in marshy 
ground), many kinds of iris, tulip and crocus flourish in appro- 
priate situations. 

‘Grass is not cultivated for hay, except on the farm of the 
Damascus Road Company, at Sheturah, in Cele-Syria. Never- 
theless, the success of this company, which makes the hay there 
raised a considerable part of the food of its large number of 
horses and mules, warrants the belief that hay could be made 
one of the staples of Syria. 

“6 Maize, wheat, barley, sorghum and sugar-cane are staples. 
The papyrus is now confined to the Huleh, and perhaps the 
marshes of the Kishon. <Arundo Donax and Saccharum 
Li gyptiacum, the gigantic grasses of the country, are put to 
numerous uses. They are everywhere cultivated as hedge plants. 

“The variety of the flora of Syria and Palestine corresponds 
with the central situation and diversity of soil, climate and sur- 
face, and the extreme inequality of the meteorological condi- 
tions of its different though not distant regions. It will not 
escape the thoughtful observer of these facts, that the microcosm 
selected for the development of the chosen people and the 
revelation of the Word, was thus eminently suited to be the 
physical basis ef the world-religion.” 


It is apparent, then, so far as the vegetable resources 
of the land are concerned, that however great the 


30 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


seclusion of the Israelites may have been, they were not 
lacking in the necessaries or even in the comforts of 
life. The size and flavor of the grapes of Palestine 
have been proverbial, ever since the return of the spies 
to Moses. Within a comparatively recent period the 
same scene has been enacted as then astonished the 
half-fed wanderers of the desert—a single cluster 
requiring two carriers for its transportation.“ Nor 
must we forget, in the enumeration of their articles of 
food, the splendid resources of the Lake of Galilee, of 
which the traveler even at the present day speaks in 
most extravagant terms, when describing the multitude 
and the quality of its fish. 


MINERALS. 


Nor was the land lacking in mineral resources. It 
was correctly described by Moses in the passage 
already quoted as a “land whose stones are iron, and 
out of whose hills thou mayst dig brass.” The 
abundance of iron in the mountains of Northern Pales- 
tine is still remarked by modern travelers, and copper 
is also found. Although the mines which were for- 
merly worked have been well nigh exhausted, yet, 
doubtless, there was sufficient of all mineral wealth 
for the purposes of the Israelites. Moses himself 
made a careful distinction in the words above, between 
the abundance of the iron and the comparative scarcity 
of the brass. Nor is this all. The Almighty had 
provided the land with those remarkable health-giving 
properties and resources which the citizens of other 
countries are often obliged to take long journeys to 


(21) See Kztto's Enc., Art. “Vine.” Robinson, Vol I. p. 81. 


POPULATION. 31 


find. ‘The wearied, the overworked and the invalided 
could at any time in the shortest journey accomplish 
a total change of climatic conditions; and there are 
many instances given of their doing so. There were 
also a variety of medicinal springs, such as the sulphur 
springs upon the western bank of the Dead Sea, and 
the intermittent spring at the Pool of Bethesda, in 
Jerusalem itself. The Lord had, indeed, provided for 
these people a “ good land,” furnished with everything 
that was requisite to their life and happiness. 


DOE OW ACRION: 


Such a land was capable of sustaining an immense 
population. At certain periods in its history its 
citizens must have numbered at least some three mil- 
lion souls. Although it is desolate and unlovely in its 
present condition—its towns in ruins, its fields blighted 
and withered, its squalid villages the homes of beg- 
gared Arabs—yet there was a time when it flowed 
with milk and honey, tenanted by a secure, a happy 
and a prosperous people; a land of flowers and birds 
and pastures and cattle; a land of delightful repose. 
It is particularly beautiful and inviting even to-day 
when the character of its inhabitants is forgotten. 


SPECIALS SECTIONS: 


That the reader may form some conception of the 
loveliness of this land when, in its virgin beauty, it 
was offered to the Israelites for their possession, a few 
quotations may be added from the words of certain 
modern travelers, descriptive respective of its North- 
ern, its Central and its Southern portions. 


32 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


DECAPOLIS. 


Mr. Edward L. Wilson, who has been already 


quoted, says: 


“ The natural scenery of Perea is lovely. There are forests 
of old oak trees, among whose great moss covered branches 
birds of tropic beauty dart in and out; gardens, olive groves, 
vineyards and fertile meadows are numerous; all dipped toward 
the Jordan and the western sun. Sometimes the buildings of 
the villages are overrun with climbing vines. Wild plants and 
shrubs grow according to their own sweet will. In the Spring, 
one can count, from almost any elevation, thousands of the black 
tents of the Arabs, who, from North, South and East, herd 
their flocks here; and as warm weather approaches, gradually 
work their way up the mountain inclines. Nineteen hundred 
years ago Decapolis was not such a pastural land as it is now. 
The remains of perhaps as many as twenty cities of the past 
may be seen from the higher ruins of any one of them; their 
massive walls, their noble arches, their forest of columns still 
stand, because the wanderer of the country prefers his tent to 
a dwelling-place among these ruins, and the vandal seldom 


comes in this direction.” (? 


THE PLAIN OF JEZREEL. 
The same writer says: 


“© This lovely expanse is the Plain of Jezreel, or in softer 
Greek, the Plain of Esdrelon. Our observations begin at 
Jenin. It is a typical town of Northern Palestine, with its 
fruit gardens, its lovely water supply, and its groves of palm. 
There, too, is the inevitable broad dome of the Mosque; and, 
overreaching all in height, the slender minaret, whence the 
muezzin cry may be heard from Samaria to Galilee. The 
views from this minaret are worth a journey to Palestine to see. 
The backward look towards Shechem and Samaria affords a 
new view of Ebal and Gerizim, and not only covers a splendid 
country under a high state of cultivation, dotted with olive 
groves, as fine as any south of Damascus, but embraces a region 
full of thrilling history. In some places the long lines of the 

(22) Century Magazine, April, 1888. 


— 


o ‘ 4 7 a) ae 
we pe 1s sel oO ard ah FG 
a 0 


fi 

at eee 

3 ¥ hee jai 
y rw None 


(= 
a As he 
one 


111. 


tI 


THE FOUNTAIN OF JEZI 


Sa ed et ae 


ae 


Ti PLAIN OF FEZREEL. ae 


broken arches of an aqueduct lifted high in the air, remind you 
of the Roman Campagna. Down in the fields near Samaria, 
you will see a richly cultivated country. The whole region is 
hilly. The rocks protrude from the hills on every side, yet 
every spot of ground from the bases to the summit presents 
testimony to the thrift of the husbandman. Every valley has 
its stream, even now. The tiniest of these is made to drive the 
wheels of some primitive flour-mill. At your feet, beginning 
as soon as you look beyond the borders of the village, is the 
lovely plain. The rich carpeting supplied by nature is inde- 
scribable. There are no fences between the vast undulating 
plots of green and gold ard pink and gray; but the narrow 
roads, with soil of red shale, mark out the boundaries for the 
husbandmen. A silver stream, whose starting point cannot be 
made out, may be discerned finding its way down from west 
to east. Itis the River Kishon, where Elijah slew the priests 
of Baal. This view in the spring-time looks like a great garden 
under the highest state of cultivation. You ride back toward 
the fountain of Jezreel. It is a beauty spot and a natural 
wonder. If you have a guide who knows the country, you 
may ride northward on Mount Gilboa, until you come to the 
point where the mountain abruptly ends, as though a part of the 
slope had been cut away, as is often the case in railway con- 
struction. Hold your guide’s hand while you look over, and 
you will hear the trickling of water, the splashing of cattle, and 
the voices of their chattering attendants. They are one hundred 
feet below you, where is a wide cavern walled by conglomerate 
rock, from which the waters burst forth with sufficient force to 
turn a little mill. This is the fountain of Jezreel. The rocky 
sides and the top of the cavern are lined with ferns, and water 
plants abound. The water flows perennially. After emerging 
from its source the stream widens into a small lake, and feeds 
one of the winding tributaries which contribute to the waters 
of the Jordan. The husbandmen of the Plain of Jezreel bring 
their cattle and their flocks here to drink, but they guard them 
well, for the visits of the invader are still frequent.” (*3) 


SHECHIEM. 


Another traveler speaks in the following language 
(23) Century Magazine, October, 1880. 


34 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


of the appearance of the country in the vicinity of the 


vale of Shechem: 


“ There is certainly no spot throughout the Holy Land which 
can rival this in beauty. All travelers, ancient and modern, 
speak in glowing terms of the peculiar loveliness of this valley, 
and many are the improvised songs which are sung in its praise 
in the present day, in the pleasant gardens of Nablous, by the _ 
Moslem successors of the Shechemites, who quote their prophet 
Mahomet himself as an author for saying that it is ‘the place 
beloved by Allah above all other places, and that his blessing 
rests upon it continually.’ It must have been regarded as an 
especially favored and hallowed spot in patriarchal times. It 
was the first halting place of Abraham after he had passed over 
the Jordan and entered the Land of Canaan, and here his first 
altar was erected. Here also was the parcel of ground acquired 
by Jacob, and here was Jacob’s well. It is said there are no less 
than eighty springs of water in and about Nablous, each having 
its special name. The water is conveyed from these springs to 
the mosques and other public buildings, and the private houses, 
and then irrigates the gardens in and around the city. Many 
of the streets have little channels of clear water running through 
them. After being thus utilized the streams on the western side 
of the city are allowed to unite and form a stream, which turns 
several mills, and flows towards the Mediterranean. Those 
on the eastern side irrigate the gardens east of the town, and 
then with a rather abrupt fall, flow towards the River Jordan.” @4) 


Mr. Wilson also adds his testimony: 


“ The location of Shechem is delightful. The whole valley 
running east and west is alive with gushing cascades and bound- 
ing streams, luxuriant olive groves and fig orchards, interspersed 
with fruits of various kinds, are dotted hither and thither every- 


where.” (®5) 
HEBRON. 


Passing on to the south, Mr. Wilson thus describes 
the country in the neighborhood of Hebron: 


“ Nothing could be more lovely than the region reached a 


(*4) Miss M. E. Rogers in Picturesque Palestine, I. 
%) Century Magazine, December, 1888. 


HEBRON. 35 


day’s journey north from Petra, when in the neighborhood of 
the brook Eshcol the wide valleys are clothed with verdure, 
spotted with daisies, buttercups, dandelions, poppies white and 
red, and many other flowers. Large flocks were there attended 
by their shepherds. The fellahin were at work, and the women, 
tall and erect, were everywhere carrying water in jars upon 
their heads. The fields were protected from the torrents by 
stone walls, and olive groves and vineyards abounded. It was 
a grateful scene. Each vineyard of Eshcol was protected by a 
high stone wall. In every one was a low stone structure, which 
served as the house of the attendant. Nestled down in the 
valley below lies Hebron, in the Plain of Mamre. To one 
coming up from a two months’ wandering in the wilds of a 
scorched desert, this first sight of holy land is an enchanting 
one. The hills and valleys alike are clothed with olive groves, 
orange trees and vineyards, figs, mulberries, almonds, pome- 
granates, and vegetables like our own; and melons and cucum- 
bers also abound. Streams of water run hither and thither, and 
murmur music which gladdens the heart of the weary traveler. 
It is no wonder that Caleb’s heart also turned back to this 
region, after his visit to it as a spy, regardless of the threatening 
appearance of the children of Anak. Surely Joshua was just 
when he blest him and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, 
Hebron for an inheritance.” (26) 


ACER os hb Lialiys 


But if the land of the chosen people were only a 
secluded land it could never have fulfilled the design 
of the Almighty in its selection. A secluded land 
might have been found upon some distant continent; 
or in one of the islands of the sea. But the design of 
God included not only the separation of his people 
from the other nations of the world, but also their 
permanent influence over them. For this reason he 
chose a land which, while it might not be easily 
invaded or visited, should yet be as close to the great 


(26) See 20, 


36 THE CHOSEN LAND. 


highways of travel as to be brought into easy com- 
munication with other nations whenever desired.®? 
Attention has already been directed to the location of 
the Roman roads, following, as they did, the ancient 
highways. Over these roads have passed from the 
earliest times the great tides of humanity; and although 
ordinarily the traveler may not have been diverted 
from his course in order to visit the cities of Israel, 
yet he could not fail to come in contact with such 
Israelites as dwelt upon the borders of the land, and 
learn from them of the character of the national faith 
and the national aspirations. It occupied the same 
relative position at the call of Abraham that it did 
when the Messiah appeared, and which indeed it still 
maintains. It must be remembered, however, that 
our own continent was unknown for fifteen hundred 
years following the coming of Christ, and for thirty- 
five hundred following the call of Abraham. Until 
the discovery of America the position of Palestine was 
the pivotal one among the nations of the earth. It 
seemed, indeed, to the nations of antiquity, and par- 
ticularly to the people who occupied it, to be the very 
center of the earth, justifying the foolish superstition 
that still obtains at Jerusalem—the very stone being 
shown to modern travelers which marks the exact 
middle point. The little land is situated at the junc- 
tion of three continents. Its later civilization has 
partaken in a measure of the character of the civiliza- 
tion of each. It looked eastward toward the great 
empires and religions of the Orient. It looked west- 
ward over the Mediterranean to the promise of 


(*) Particularly well stated in Conybeare & Howson, Vol. I., ch. 1. 


ACCESSIBILITT. yi 


European civilization. It looked southward upon the 
life and customs of Egypt, and the darkness beyond. 
The Wise Men who came from the East to Jerusalem 
at the birth of the Saviour, the Greeks from the West 
who inquired for him at the feast, and the Ethiopian 
from the South who was found returning from Jeru- 
salem after his ascension, are each a type of the 
peculiar radiation of influence which the central 
position of the chosen land afforded. Its special 
fitness to be a center was apparent at the first, nor 
did it cease until the whole scheme of revelation and 
redemption had been completed. Vast migrations 
had passed and repassed its borders. ‘The Assyrian, 
the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman in turn have 
marched along its coasts toward Egypt, and more 
than once the Egyptians have countermarched over 
the same route. Certain very significant illustrations 
of the central influence of this country, by reason of 
its geographical location, appear even in our own day. 
The choice of Syria as a sort of eastern headquarters 
of missionary operations may be cited as an instance; 
and the English occupation of Cyprus, in lieu of a 
foothold upon the main land. This secluded land is 
therefore, notwithstanding its seclusion, the most 
accessible of all the lands of the ancient world, the 
true ‘Middle Kingdom,” bearing the same relation to 
the countries round about it, and to the busy avenues 
of commerce and of war, that the “close” of an English 
cathedral or university, in the midst of a populous 
city, bears to its crowded streets and marts. 

Such, then, was the land in which the chosen people 
were to be trained and developed until their religious 


ee Ls Pe ‘ oo ate 
i oo - “+ ‘3 zi rial 3 Sate b " ce 
‘ ‘ . Hy rs ab : i 
Bite be orHE CHOSEN LAND. hes 


' ’ Ale ; 
life should become comple: ; “ea such was th 
from which the blessings of redemption | were 
Beco S SUDey the earth. 


i ~~“ 
e \ 
. 
. 
1 
=, 
2 
’ 
4 
: 
a. ie 
ale Sil 
7 1 wet H 
» 
, Psa, Sd 
¥ oS k Pies = 
’ ee ite eine > A;e 
VT a alt ° 
4 


GHAPTER! Lik 


ELLES GOS DINGP ROP IEE: 


In the execution of the purpose of God it became 
necessary to prepare a people for the prepared land. 
The choice of this people was not, as is too commonly 
supposed, an arbitrary one. ‘They were selected with 
reference to certain qualities which they possessed 
and certain advantages which they had enjoyed, fitting 
them to become the leaders of the world in the exten- 
sion of the divine redemption. There had been due 
preparation for their advent, just as there subsequently 
was for the advent of the Redeemer. The providential 
history of the world leads up to Abraham; just as it 
leads up to the Seed of Abraham, the Saviour. The 
period which leads up to Abraham may be called 


dai b> INCLUSION: 


It is characterized by the inclusion of the people of 
God among the nations, as the period which follows 
Abraham is characterized by their seclusion. 

In order to justify this seclusion of the Hebrew 
race it was the design of the Almighty, in the course 
of his providence, to show that unless the chosen 
people were set apart by themselves, the knowledge 
of the truth would have become hopelessly lost, and 
the redemption of the world indefinitely retarded. 

Therefore, after the judgment of the ante-deluvian 
world and the destruction of its people in the flood, 


40 THE CHOSEN “PEOPLE. 


the Almighty started the whole race anew by the 
preservation of a single family, to whom he vouch- 
safed the knowledge of himself. No attempt was then 
made to separate a single tribe from others. Although 
Shem, the youngest son of Noah, was selected as the 
father of the chosen seed, the intercourse of his descend- 
ants with those of the other sons of Noah was 
absolutely unrestricted. The leaven was hid in the 
meal; the question which was to be answered in the 
course of history was whether the leaven would 
permeate the lump or the lump quench the leaven. 

Again “men began to multiply on the face of the 
earth.” The judgment of the former age was forgot- 
ten; and the lapse into idolatry and immorality was 
almost as swift as it had been originally. We are 
taught by the Scriptures that the immediate descend- 
ants of Noah plunged at once into sin. Of Shem 
alone are we positively informed that he acknowledged 
the Lord as his God. It is presumed that his son, the 
grandson of Noah, was an idolater; and all the nations 
which sprang from Noah shared inthe same decline. 
For hundreds of years together there was not so much 
as a solitary exception. ‘The world had again reached © 
a condition similar to that which obtained just before 
the flood; and by its persistence in that condition 
demonstrated its incapacity to conserve truth and 
righteousness, except under special conditions which 
the Almighty himself should arrange and impose. 


CHALDAA AND ABRAHAM. 


The culminating point in this period was reached 
when the Chaldeans obtained supremacy over their 


CHALDAZA AND ABRAHAM. Al 


neighbors, and the Chaldean government became the 
central and sovereign one. Coincident with this cen- 
tralization of political power in the hands of the 
Chaldzeans there was a culmination in their iniquities. 
We observe the same state of things existing upon a 
small scale at the call of Abraham, which we shall 
hereafter observe at the advent of Christ. ‘ The full- 
ness of time’ had come in just the same sense. The 
world, in its increasing ignorance of God, and its 
deepening departure from him, was ripe for some 
distinct divine intervention. 

An extended account of the religious condition of 
Chaldea at the time of Abraham cannot here be given. 
It is sufficient for our purpose to note that at the time 
of Abraham’s migration a new dynasty had taken 
possession of southern Mesopotamia. Of this new 
dynasty Sargon I. was the founder. His empire was 
the most extensive which the world had as yet known. 
Sargon had carried his conquests far to the west; 
left his image on the rocks of the Mediterranean coast, 
and even crossed the sea to Cyprus.“ That the 
religion of his empire might be in keeping with its 
political magnificence it was formulated, under his 
influence, into a complete system.” The divinities 
were arranged in imperial order into a graduated hier- 
archy,and their respective worship was defined; idolatry 
was thus dignified, and received a new and powerful 
impulse. Chaldza and its subject kingdoms were 
committed to it. The civilization of the world that 


(1) The Bible and Modern Discoveries ; Harper, p. 4. 

(2)See The Ancient World and Christianity , De Pressense, ch. il. 
flours with the Bible, Geike, I., 305. 
Ancient Empires of the East, Sayce, pp. 112, 295. 


42 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


then was, its political power, its social life, and its 
religious condition, were determined. The gods 
which, before this time, were like the people, com- 
paratively simple and unobtrusive, were lifted, together 
with their monarch, to a supreme place and glory. 
Abraham before his departure was the witness of this 
sad deterioration. Hesaw the great army of priests 
which the increasing demands of idolatry had multi- 
plied. He heard them chant the liturgies which the great 
mental awakening had created. He was the witness of 
the early rites of magic and divination—now reduced 
to a system. Possibly he was a witness also of the 
awful horror of human sacrifice which was commonly 
practiced in his own land. Such was the condition 
which threatened to become universal, when he 
received his call, and the era of inclusion ended in the 
signal failure of mankind. 


THE ERAZORsSEC Uso: 


Abraham is now designated to be the founder of a 
new era, of which the seclusion of the people of God 
shall be the characteristic feature. He is a citizen of 
Ur, the capital of Chaldea. His very name (Abu- 
ramu ) 1s found on an early Babylonian tablet.” He 
is alsoa descendant of the blessed Shem, the son of 
Noah. But this is not all. Though there appears a 
special fitness in the designation of Abraham, he 
might have been all that we have represented him to 
be and yet have been unfit for the peculiar work 
which was contemplated in the purpose of God. That 


(3) Abraham: The Typical Life of Faith, Breed, ch. i. 
() Lhe Bible and Modern Discoveries ; Harper, p. 4. 


PERSISTENT VIGOR. 43 


purpose looked to the far distant future, and required 
for its execution a suitable agent. The choice of the 
Almighty, therefore, had respect to the agent, as it 
always has. ‘The same discrimination was shown in 
the choice of Abraham which was afterwards displayed 
in the choice of Moses and of Paul. 


TLE GHOSE NENAGH, 


The race which was to spring from Abraham was 
to be endowed with those peculiar qualities which 
should render them fitting agents for the custody and 
transmission of the truth. We shall direct attention, 
first, to such qualities as they shared with kindred 
races; then, to such qualities as distinguished them 
from others; and then, to the divine addition to their 
natural endowments. 


PERSISTENT VIGOR, 


The persistent physical and intellectual vigor of the 
Hebrew race has been frequently emphasized. The 
scientific principle as to the persistence of the type and 
conformity thereto, has never seen such a remarkable 
illustration. It hasbeen generally remarked even by 
ethnologists, who view the matter not from a religious 
standpoint, but from a scientific one. <A distinguished 
lecturer upon ethnology, who is certainly not disposed 
to credit the Jews with any special qualities because 
of divine favor, but whose skepticism, on the contrary, 
evidently embarrasses him in his studies, yet says, in 
view of their unique national history, 


cD hey left Chaldea according to their own showing a small 
family and quitted Egypta considerable people. From the 


A4 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


earliest recorded times they have been wandering over the earth. 
When they penetrated into Britain it is impossible to say, but 
here they are now, unaltered and unalterable. Societies are 
gotten up for their conversion. Be it so. Nothing can be said 
against them, but in one hundred years they will not convert 
one hundred Jews, not even one real Jew. This is my opinion 
and solemn conviction.” ©) 


Says another ethnologist: 


“Of all the families of Man, the Semitic has preserved the 
most distinguished and homogeneous mental characteristics. 
Always, in all its branches, tenacious of the past, conservative, 
not inclined to change or reform, sensual and strong of passion, 
yet deeply reverent and religious in temperament, capable of the 
most sublime acts either of heroism or fanaticism, it was from 
the first a fit medium for some of the grandest truths and prin- 
ciples which can inspire the human soul. Its very peculiarities 
adapted it to feel and contain and convey divine inspirations, 
* * _* A peculiar physiological fact about the Jews should 
be noticed here; that they are able to live and multiply in 
almost all latitudes. Their increase in Sweden is said to be 
greater than that of the Christian population. In the towns of 
Algeria they are, according to Boudin, the only race able to 
maintain its numbers; and in Cochin China and Aden, the 
latter one of the hottest places in the world, they succeed in 
rearing children and in forming permanent communities.” ( 


The Jews have demonstrated in their four thousand 
years of a national existence that they are possessed 
of a certain vigor which has never been approached in 
the life of any other people. Although they have 
been carried into captivity, decimated by their 
conquerors and scattered abroad over the earth, they 
exhibit to this day no signs of exhaustion. On the 
other hand the most competent observers of history 
agree that within the last century there has appeared 
something like a rejuvenation of this ancient stock. 


(5) Knox on Race, Lecture IV. 
(8) Races of the Old World, Brace, pp. 50 and 243. 


PERSISTENT VIGOR. 45 


The Jew is a Jew everywhere, in his theories, his 
methods, his pursuits, his faith, and even his external 
appearance. And the special peculiarity of this 
physical vigor consists in the fact that the Jewish 
character, and the persistence of its type, have been 
especially marked in periods of Jewish decline and 
dispersion. This is the more remarkable when we 
remember that in the case of other nations, such as 
Greece and Rome, the day of their greatest influence 
was the day of their greatest national prosperity; and 
that with their political decline, there came also 
a debasing of their national character and a decay of 
the national type. But for only seven hundred years 
out of the three thousand of their entire existence as 
a people have the Hebrews been a united and indepen- 
dent nation; or, if we count the whole time, from the 
Exodus to the captivity of Judah, as the period of 
Hebrew independence, it yet appears that for about 
three-fourths of their national history the Israelites 
have been without a country which they could call 
their own. For the last eighteen hundred years they 
have been exiled and scattered, the history of their 
persecutions forming many of the saddest pages in 
history, and almost every nation in the earth being 
guilty partners in it; but their sad experiences have 
not obliterated a single feature peculiar to their 
character. ‘The phenomenon is absolutely unique. 
Still further the uniform testimony of historians and 
other observers like that of Brace, quoted above, is to 
the fact that everywhere and always the Jews have 
been found to exceed the Gentiles, both in fertility 
and longevity. There has been a constant repetition 


46 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


of the features which troubled the Egyptians of old. 
The Hebrews outgrow their oppressors in number. 
This has always enabled them to react after oppres- 
sion and to recover lost ground with an amazing 
rapidity. For example, in the return from Babylon 
we are told that the immigrants numbered less than 
fifty thousand, and yet by the time of Christ, notwith- 
standing their reverses and persecutions, the Jews of 
Palestine were numbered by millions. At the time 
of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus we are told 
that more than a million were gathered together in 
that city alone. In that last vain struggle of the 
nation it showed no signs of impaired vitality, nor had 
the Romans ever met with a people whom they found 
so difficult to subjugate. Cast out of their own land, 
with no universal bond of government and exposed to 
uncongenial climates, and adverse social influences, 
and permitted to live, if at all, under hurtful restrictions, 
the Jewish character is yet preserved intact, and the 
Jewish physique has suffered no deterioration. 
Dr. Schaff in a very fine passage has written: 


‘“¢ Behold the race still lives as tenaciously as ever, unchanged 
and unchangeable inits national traits—an omnipresent power 
in Christendom. It still produces in its old age men of com- 
manding influence for good or evil in the commercial, political 
and literary world. We need only to recall such names as 
Spinoza, Rothschild, Disraeli, Mendelssohn, Heine, Neander. 
If we read the accounts of the historians and satirists of imperial 
Rome about the Jews in their filthy quarter across the Tiber, 
we are struck with the identity of that people with their 
descendants in the ghettos of modern Rome, Frankfort and 


New York. They excited then, as much as they do now, the 


mingled contempt and wonder of the world.” ®) 


(1) The Fews,; Kellogg, ch. 1. 
(8) Church Flistory, § 17. 


——————— 


OTHER ABRAHAMIC RACES. 4.7 


The design of the Almighty therefore, in selecting 
them to be his agents in the custody of his truth, is 
more than justified. 


OTHER ABRAHAMIC RACES. 


That the Lord’s selection of this people was not 
arbitrary, will even more emphatically appear when 
we recall the history of the other branches of the same 
common race. The history of the Ishmaelites dis- 
plays physical vigor and a persistence of national 
character second only to that which is displayed in the 
history of Israel. While the mental peculiarities of 
Isaac are reproduced in his descendants, those of 
Ishmael are as distinctly reproduced in his. The 
Bedouin of the desert and all his Arabian kinsmen 
manifest to-day the same untamable disposition 
which occasioned the expulsion of Ishmael from his 
father’s camp. There is scarcely anything in history 
to parallel the rapidity of the conquests of the Sara- 
cens, nor can history furnish, apart from Christianity, 
illustrations of more remarkable personages than they 
have produced. ‘The consummate flower of this race 
is the false prophet, Mahomet; concerning whom a 


distinguished scholar has written: 

‘¢Call him prophet, reformer or imposter as we will, the 
camel-driver of Mecca, the conqueror of Medina, soars above 
every other man recorded in the history of the East. Nowhere 
in the history of the world can we directly trace such mighty 
effects to the personal agency of a single mortal. He founda 
barbarous and disunited people. He left a flourishing empire, 
which actually existed for ages, and which in its effects exists to 
this day. He put forth a new religion. So have others before 
and since; but his religion was not destined to influence a single 
sect or a single nation; it was to stamp the mind and destiny of 


45 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. | 


the whole Oriental world; to be at once the truest of false 
religious systems and the deadliest antagonist of the truth 
itself.’’(9) 

But Mahomet’s great work was not one of conquest. 
His influence abides not in the empire that he founded, 
but in the book which he wrote. The Christian world 
is only beginning to understand and appreciate the 
Koran. The vast majority still hold very much the 
same opinion with regard to it which Martin Luther 
once expressed. In his sermon against the Turks he 
says: ‘‘In which law there is nought but sheer human 
reason, for his law teaches nothing but that which 
human understanding and reason may well like; 
wherefore Christ will come upon him with fire and 
brimstone.” But at this time (1529) Martin Luther 
had never so much as seen a Koran.) 

According to the unanimous consent of modern 
scholars the Koran is a wonderful book. Its chief 
value is derived from its indebtedness to Judaism and 
the principles which it borrows from the Old Testa- 
ment; and in consequence, it has had, and is still having, 
a mighty influence. This wonderful work of one of 
the descendants of Ishmael rules to-day over the minds 
of 180,000,000 of people. The old contest between 
Isaac and Ishmael is continued in our own day. The 
son of Ishmael is the only stalwart antagonist which 


the son of Isaac recognizes. The Crescent is the only | 


serious obstacle to the advance of the Cross. Says 
the author just quoted :¢ 


“The religious reformer (Mahomet) has checked the 


(9) Hestory and Conquest of the Saracens «Freeman, p..5: 
(0) Quoted by Emanuel Deutsch; Remazns, Dri: 
(11) Freeman, page 509. 


OTHER ABRAHAMIC RACES. 49 


advance of Christianity. The political reformer has checked 
the advance of freedom, and indeed, of organized government 
in any shape. The moral reformer has set his seal to the 
fearful evils of polygamy and slavery. Whether Mahomet be 
personally the Anti-Christ of Scripture, I do not profess to 
determine; but I do know that his religion, approximating as it 
does so closely to Christianity without being Christian, eventu- 
ally appears above all others emphatically anti-Christian.” 


We are bound to remember, however, that even the 
Christian world must confess its great indebtedness to 
the sons of Ishmael. The conquests of the Saracens 
were the enriching of Europe. The literature, arts, 
and sciences of the Arabs form the connecting link 
between the civilizations of ancient and modern-:times. 
The culture which they introduced into the countries 
they conquered has outlasted the conquerors them- 
selves. ‘l’o them, both directly and indirectly, we owe 
the revival of learning and philosophy in Western 
Europe, and the awakening of the spirit of inquiry 
which rescued Europe from her long lethargy of 
ignorance and superstition. To them, also, at least 
indirectly, are due many of the useful arts and 
practical inventions perfected in more recent times. 
Let us not forget that even our system of notation is 
expressed, not in Roman, but in Arabic numerals. 


A passing reference may also be made to other 
descendants of Abraham; in order, still further, to 
illustrate the vigor of those races of which he was the 
founder. The Midianites, who were descendants of 
Abraham by his wife Keturah, were long a menace to 
Israel. Among them Moses dwelt for a season. 
After their defeat by Gideon they seem to have 
become incorporated with the stronger tribes. The 


50 THE \ CHOSEN PLOULLEE 


Edomites, descendants of Esau, himself another Ish- 
mael, do not entirely pass out of history until after 
the death of Christ. From Edom sprang Herod the 
Great and his royal house; and, in their attempts 
upon the life of Christ and his apostles, illustrated the 
ancient feud. Finally the Samaritans, although a 
mixed race, cherished the memory of their father 
Abraham, and professed to follow his faith. A rem- 
nant of them is still to be found in the neighborhood 
of ancient Samaria. Surely, this is sufficient to show 
that the Hebrews did not receive from the Almighty 
an exclusive amount of vigor, but one which they 
shared in common with kindred races, whatever may 
have been the special divine additions. 


DISPOSITION. 


The Hebrews, however, were distinguished. from > 


their kinsmen by their disposition. In selecting his 
agents the Lord had respect to the amiability and 
tranquility of the Jewish mind. He chose the gentle 
Isaac, not the furious Ishmael. The descendants of 
Isaac have never been great warriors. They never 
made extensive conquests. Even the dominions of 
David and Solomon were insignificant in comparison 
with the great empires of the Old World. More par- 
ticularly, be it remarked, they never sought to prose- 
lyte by force. What an exceedingly sad commentary 
it would have been upon the history of the chosen 
people had they reflected at any time the spirit of the 
Ishmaelite; or raised a rallying cry similar to that of 
Mahomet and his successors, ‘‘ The Koran, Tribute, or 
the Sword!” 


———eESEooo 


LANGUAGE. 51 


But perhaps the most remarkable of those endow- 
ments which fitted the Hebrews to be the custodians 
of the truth, was their possession of a language which 
was signally distinct from most of those with which 
it came in contact by its alphabetic form. While 
the written speech of other nations was cast in some 
complicated syllabic or hieroglyphic system, the writ- 
ten forms of this language were such as to adapt it 
to the purpose of God. It was specially suitable to 
be cut upon stone and used for monumental Inscrip- 
tions. ‘The tables of the law which Moses received 
from the Almighty would have suffered greatly in 
their force and perspicuity, if indeed their meaning 
could have been expressed, had they been carved in 
the forms which Egyptians or Assyrians were wont 
to use. 

Ideographic systems, even after they have assumed a 
somewhat phonetic character or passed into syllabic 
form, have certain serious defects. The range of ex- 
pression is limited. They are largely confined to the 
sensuous and concrete, and more particularly, the same 
symbol must be employed to denote a variety of objects 
and of sounds which are somewhat closely allied to 
each other. Take for example, and as a single illus- 
tration from the Egyptian syllabary, the sign for 
“lapis lazuli.” The Egyptian name for this stone is 
khesteh. But the first syllable of this word, used 
alone, means “ to stop,” and the second, “ pig,’ so that 
the sign for lapis lazuli is a man stopping a pig by 
pulling his tail. 

Clearly then such a language was not adapted to 
the purpose of divine revelation, in which there must 


52 THE CHOSEN, PEOPLE. 


be precision, as well as the opportunity for the coinage 
of new words wherewith to express new ideas—ideas 
entirely disassociated from ambiguous symbols. ‘The 
Almighty, therefore, chose a people in possession of an 
alphabetic system capable of expressing a wide range 
of thought, and more especially capable of conveying 
abstract truth. 

At what date this language was reduced to that 
written form, which preceded its alphabetic form, it is 
impossible to determine. The date is so remote as to 
be lost in the mists of antiquity. We only know 
that when the people from whom the Hebrews sprang 
first appeared, this language was the common property 
of all the nations between Assyria and Egypt, with 
differences only of idiom. 

The Phceenician was long supposed to be the oldest 
language of its class. It can be traced to a date 1000 
years, B. C. It was more widely extended than any 
of the other early languages. The whole ancient 
world being the vantage ground of Phcenician enter- 
prise, it was naturally disseminated over the widest 
possible space. The Greek and Roman alphabets were 
its products. According to tradition, Cadmus, the 
Pheenician, introduced the art of writing into Greece, 
giving to it the old alphabet of sixteen letters. But by 
reason of this very dissemination of the Phcenician lan- 
guage it yielded to foreign influence, became corrupt 
and lost its distinctive character.“ 

At the present time we are unable to determine 
the original form of the common language, but the 


(2) Literary Remains of Emanuel Deutsch, 304-307; Enc. Britt., Art. 
“ Alphabet.” 


\ 


LANGUAGE. 53 


Flebrew, as we know it, unquestionably approaches very 
closely to the primitive type. Before Abraham left 
Chaldza this language in its early form had been im- 
pressed upon the tablets of clay which formed the 
books in use in that age of the world. Libraries of 
such books had been collected and by their means as- 
tronomy, mathematics, law and government had been 
studied and reduced to writing.“ 

Recent discoveries in Palestine have shown that 
lonowsbetore thes Exodus: even, .Ganaan ‘had\-its 
libraries, its scribes, its schools and its literary 
men. ‘The annals of the country were inscribed upon 
clay in characters of the cuneiform syllabary. Exten- 
sive correspondence was carried on between the various 
Semitic nations speaking the same general tongue. 
The tablets recently discovered at Tel el Amarna in 
Egypt comprise the correspondence of various officials 
scattered throughout Syria and Mesopotamia, dealing 
with all sorts of governmental matters and abounding 
in information with regard to many details of civil and 
social life. ‘Ihe collection cannot be the only one of 
its kind. Similar libraries must still be lying under the 
soil, not only in Egypt, but doubtless in Palestine and 
farther Syria. There is little doubt among archeolo- 
gists that such libraries still await the spade of the ex- 
cavator on the sites of such places as Gaza, Kirjath 
Sepher, and others celebrated in ancient writings for 


their literary fame.“ 


(13) Abraham: His Life and Times» Deane, 8. 
(14) Prof. Sayce in the Victoria, No. 93; see also the Contemporary 
Review, Dec. 1890. Prof. Sayce announces such a discovery at Tel-el- 


Hesy (Lachish), dating back to the Amorite days before the Conquest, in 
the S. S. Zzmes, Aug. 27, 1892. Indeed, a letter found at Lachish is— 
strange to say, the companion of one found at Tel-el-Amarna! the first 
written by an Egyptian scribe, the second written by his Amorite corre- 
spondent' 


54 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


The interesting discoveries in Northern Arabia have 
afforded even more valuable information with regard 
to the state of letters in those early times. They have 
demonstrated the great antiquity of the Minean king- 
dom, and of the spread of its power from the south 
of Arabia to the frontiers of Egypt and Palestine. It 
preceded the rise of the Kingdom of Saba, the Sheba of 
the Old Testament. We have been made acquainted 
with the names of thirty-three Minaan sovereigns, cov- 
ering an extended period of time. Their subjects are 
shown to have been a literary people; but the most 
astonishing fact which has been discovered with regard 
to them is that they used an alphabetic system of 
writing, and their inscriptions are found not only in 
their southern homes, but also in their colonies in the 
north. These inscriptions are older than the oldest 
known inscription in the Pheenician letters. The 
Pheenician alphabet is probably derived from the 
Minzan, or at least from one of the Arabian alphabets 
of which the Minzean was the mother. 

These discoveries of the great antiquity of alpha- 

betic writing among the people of Arabia have greatly 
modified the views which have been current with 
regard to the earlier history of the Old Testament. 
It can no longer be assumed that the tribes to whom 
the Israelites were related were illiterate nomads, and 
that the people who were led out of Egypt by Moses 
had no opportunity of making acquaintance with books 
and written records, and of formulating their own laws 
ina language cast in alphabetic form. No critic will 
now maintain that letters were unknown in Israel 
before the time of Samuel; for it has been shown that 


Ee 


4 
a 


LANGUAGE, 55 


the Oriental world, even in Northern Arabia, was a 
literary one, and that in Canaan, before the Exodus, 
education was carried to a high point. It had its 
libraries, schools and pupils, even before the conquest. 

The language of the chosen people is thus seen to 
have assumed a peculiar character, both in its inner 
sense and in its outward form. Its principal wealth 
and strength consisted in its. religious and ethical 


element. 

It is probable that certain revelations of the AI- 
mighty were committed to writing soon after the time 
of Abraham; yet such a period was permitted to 
elapse before the coming of Moses and the formal con- 
struction of revelation as should suffice for the neces- 
sary development of the language under its alphabetic 
form. During this period certain words embodying 
the new ideas concerning God came to have a recog: 
nized meaning, and certain forms of expression passed 
into common use, and were thus clearly understood 
before the Pentateuch was composed and the body of 
Mosaic laws given to the people. At the same time, 
the fact that the dialects of all the Semitic nations 
between Assyria and Egypt were derived from one 
common type, and bore the same resemblance to each 
other that French, Spanish and Italian bear to each 
other at the present day, made the intercommunication 
of thought with those people comparatively easy, 
enabling the Hebrews to communicate to them when 
they desired a knowledge of their religious system. 

A distinct providence, therefore, appears in the _ 
choice of this peculiar people, invested with its rich 
and flexible language. But there is still another 


56 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


respect wherein the interposition of the Almighty is 


distinctly apprehended. 
THE SO-CALLED MONOTHEISTIC INSTINCT. 


It has been claimed by some skeptical philosophers 


of our own age that the Hebrews were the possessors_ 


of a certain monotheistic instinct inclining them by 
nature to the worship of one God, and out of which 
their religious system was subsequently developed, and 
therefore that no part of their endowment was divinely 
given. M. Renan claims that the Jews had no other 
revelation than that which they carried with them in the 
blood of their veins, or read on the sands of the desert, 
where there fathers had encamped. He says, in his 
History of the Semitic Languages: “ They never would 
have reached the dogma of the divine unity had they not 
found it in the most imperious instincts of their minds 
and hearts. The desert is monotheist.” ‘This claim 
is simply preposterous. The children of Abraham even 
before the time of Moses on several occasions mani- 
fested idolatrous tendencies, and upon the first dis- 
appearance of Moses after their departure from Egypt 
they forsook the worship of God, and set up the golden 
calf in his stead.“ It is not necessary to call the 
attentioa of the student of the Scriptures to the many 
other instances in which the same idolatrous tendency 
was displayed. They were never cured of it until the 
Babylonish captivity. Max Muller in his essay upon 
Semitic Monotheism finally disposes of Renan’s theory. 
His conclusion, though we cannot endorse its every 
word, may be here quoted: 


(15) See De Pressense’s Religions Before Christ, p. 194. 


EEE EE aL 


LHE SO-CALLED, MONOTHEISTIC INSTINCT. 57 


“If we are asked how this one Abraham possessed not only 
the primitive intuition of' God as he had revealed himself to 
all mankind, but passed through the denial of all other gods to 
the knowledge of the one God, we are cortent to answer that 
it was by a special ‘divine revelation. We do not indulge in 
theological phraseology, but we mean every word to its fullest 
extent. The Father of truth chooses his own prophets, and he 
speaks to them in a voice stronger than a voice of thunder. It 
is the same inner voice through which God speaks to all of us. 
That voice may dwindle away and become hardly audible, but 
it may also, from time to time; assume its real nature with the 
chosen of God and sound into their ears as a voice from heaven. 
A “divine instinct” may sound more scientific and less theologi- 
cal, but in truth it would neither be an appropriate name for 
what is a gift of grace accorded but to few, nor would it be a 
more scientific, that is to say, a more intelligible word, than 
“special revelation.” The important point, however, is not 
whether the faith of Abraham should be called a divine instinct 
or a revelation. What we wish here to insist on is. that that 
instinct or that revelation was specially granted to one man and 
handed down from him to Jews, Christians and Mohammedans, 
to all who believe in the God of Abraham. Nor was it granted 
to Abraham entirely as a free gift. Abraham was tried and 
tempted before he was trusted by God. He had to break faith 
with his fathers. He had to deny the gods who were worshipped 
by his friends and neighbors. Like all the friends of God he 
had to hear himself called an infidel, and an atheist; and in our 
own days he would have been looked upon as a madman for 
attempting to slay his son. It was through special faith that 
Abraham received his special revelation, not through instinct 
nor through abstract meditation, nor through ecstatic visions. 
Even with the little we know of him he stands before us as a 
figure second only to One in the whole history of the world.”(16) 


Such were the characteristics and advantages which 
the Hebrew shared in common with kindred races ; such 
were the features which distinguished him from them; 
and such was the divine addition to what we may call 


(16) “ Chips,” 1:367. 


55 THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. 


his natural endowments. The Almighty certainly 
added a special revelation, the faith to receive it, and 
the land in which it might be developed. 


Rania ve 


PERIOD OF SECLUSION: SEMITIC SUPREMACY. 


“For even the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh; even for this same 
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, 
and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.” 


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THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 
THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 
THE DISCIPLINING oF ISRAEL. 


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CHAPTER. IIE 
THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


The history of the people of God before Christ, as 
we have indicated in a preceding chapter, is divided 
into three periods, that of Inclusion, of Seclusion, and 
of Diffusion. Each of these periods is distinguished by 
its own characteristic features. The first closed with 
Abraham. The second is distinguished by the inde- 
pendent existence of the Hebrew nation, and also by 
the preponderance of Semitic influence. The third is 
distinguished by the loss of Hebrew independence and 
the preponderance of Japhetic influence. Considering 
these last two periods, the first has its outlook towards 
Asia; the second towards Europe. The first period 
is that of the Hebrew; the second, that of the Jew. . 

In the present work we are not concerned with the 
history of those nations with whom the people of God 
were never closely associated. Doubtless they all had 
a share in preparing the way of the Lord, and the 
study of their providential history is exceedingly in- 
teresting. But we content ourselves with an examin- 
ation of the history of such nations only as came in 
contact with the people of Israel, confining ourselves 
to the period during which they were associated. 

The great Semitic empires had a calling to fulfill in 
training the Hebrew for his own special mission, and 
during the period of seclusion the purpose of God had 
particular reference to the education of his chosen 


62 THE SCHOOLING OF JSRAEL. 


people. This is the testimony of Scripture. A num- 
ber of quotations might be given of which the following 
are illustrations. The Almighty in his message to 
Pharaoh uses the following language, which may be 
applied not only to Pharaoh but also to the people 
whom he represented and over whom he ruled: “And 
in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to 
show in thee my power, and that my name may be 


declared throughout all the earth.’ 


Subsequent 
passages will be recalled in which distinct reference is 
made to the schooling which Israel received in Egypt, 
especially at the time of the Exodus. “He made 
known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children 
of Israel ok 

Our knowledge of Egypt has been greatly increased 
by recent explorations. The events of its history have 
been ascertained with a precision which was not possi- 
ble half a century ago, and we have been made well ac- 
quainted with its people. The very mummies of their 
kings have been discovered, unrolled from their long 
wrappings and displayed to the wondering eyes of the 
nineteenth century. ‘These mummies are in such a 
state of preservation that their features plainly appear 
and indicate their character; while the rolls which 
accompany them, or the inscriptions which they them. 
selves cut upon their monuments, give an account of their 
deeds. ‘The sites of old cities have also been definitely 
ascertained. Their walls have been uncovered, and 
the fragments of their buildings which remain have 
enabled us to restore them with a good degree of ac- 
curacy. Many other data have also been furnished, 


Ceti 1x 16;-Romsixs 17, (2) Ps, cill:7. 


ISRAEL LED INTO EGYPT. 6 2 


which need not here be described, by the aid of which 
we are able to construct a correct picture of the Egypt 


of the Pharaohs. 
So, then, when the Lord led Israel down into Egypt, 


it was for the express purpose of putting him to school, 
and the Egyptians should be his teachers. Let us 
observe in the present chapter how the school was 
conducted, and in the next the lessons which were 
taught. 

ISRAEL LED INTO EGYPT. 

The descendants of Abraham had developed into a 
little clan. They numbered, all told, seventy souls, of 
whom four—Joseph, his wife, and two sons, were in 
the land of Egypt; and sixty-six remained in the land 
of Canaan. Under the inspiration of the divine 
promise they had already begun to feel the stirrings 
of an incipient national life. The name “Israel,” by 
which they were forever after to be known, had been 
assumed by them. It was a mysterious name, the 
meaning of which they themselves alone understood, but 
it foreshadowed both struggle and victory. There were 
how twelve families of them, the progeny of a single 
man, and with the promise of rapid increase. Already 
there had been some collision between them and their 
expatriated kinsmen of other clans, and there was 
great danger lest in the conflicts that would certainly 
ensue either with these or with alien tribes, they 
should be overpowered by superior numbers and sub- 
stantially exterminated. They were but a “little flock,” 
but since it was the “ Father’s good pleasure to give 
them the kingdom,” it became necessary that they 
should be taken under the sheltering care of some 


64 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


great power whereby their preservation and multipli- 
cation would be insured. For this the divine provi- 
dence now provided. 


EGYPT UNDER THE HYKSOS. 


The time of the Hebrews’ entrance into Egypt was 
most favorable to their reception, from the fact that 
its northern portion was in the hands of a Semitic 
people, from the same general section as their own 
original fatherland. The native races had been driven 
to the south, and the Hyksos, or ‘“‘ Shepherd Kings,” 
were in possession of Lower Egypt. ‘The word 
Hyksos is a compound of “ Hyk,” a king, and "1 S5Osem 
a shepherd, or, more correctly, a nomad. 

The origin of these people has not yet been definitely 
ascertained. Recent researches seem to point to 
Mesopotamia as their native place, where, at the time 
of their invasion. of Egypt, important events were 
taking place. The King of Elam invaded Babylonia, 
plundered the country, and carried away from the city 
of Urukh to his capital, Shushan, a large amount of 
spoil. It cannot be affirmed that the invasion of 
Egypt is connected with this particular war, but it is 
probable that the struggle between the Elamites and 
the Mesopotamians brought about the Hyksos invasion 
of Egypt. The Elamites themselves, did not probably 
proceed as far as the Nile, but they drove out of the 
country a mixed multitude, belonging probably to 
different races, which overran Egypt under powerful 
leadership. This is the conclusion of M. Naville. 
If it is correct, the Hyksos cannot longer be considered 


the barbarians that they were formerly supposed to 
(3) FYournad of the Victoria Institute, No. go. 


Loli l UNDER THE Fitness. GS 


have been. They belonged to nations which had 
already attained a high degree of civilization; and it 
was for this reason that Egypt, under their dominion, 
did not seriously suffer in its internal life. Its con- 
quest was signalized by devastation and ruin; but the 
conquerors submitted to the influence of their more 
refined subjects, and easily adopted the principal 
features of their civilization, which was not altogether 
unlike their own. 

For nearly 500 years, ending about 1900 B.C., these 
people had sovereign possession of the country, and 
ruled in Egypt in much the same way as the Moors 
in Spain; but in consequence of the hatred with which 
they were regarded, the native princes, on their resto- 
ration of power, endeavored to obliterate every trace 
of their sovereignty. The largest number and the most 
interesting in character have been found within a 
few years, at Bubastis, the Pi-Beseth of Scripture,“ 
which, though a very ancient city,®) became one of 
the chief centers of Hyksos power. But as it was 
adopted as a royal residence by later kings of native 
dynasties, its Hyksos monuments were mutilated or 
destroyed. The case is the same throughout the 
sentire Hyksos territory. There is now and then a 
statue showing a fresh type of men, altogether distinct 
from the natives of the country. The faces are broad 
and flat, the cheekbones are higher than those of the 
Egyptians, the lips are thicker, the jaws are wider, 
and the mouth is full of a stern determination. Their 


(4) Iezek. xxx: 17. 

(6) Eeypt under the Pharaohs, Brugsch, I, 6, and II, 16 

(6) For an account of these discoveries, see A/zss Edwards in the Cen- 
tury Magazine, Jan., 1890. 


66 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


hair and beards are dressed in a different way, and 
their clothing, oftentimes consisting of the skins of 
animals, indicates a more northern origin. 

The first great leader of this singular people who 
united the invading hordes and brought them under a 
single sceptre is known as Salatis. It would appear 
from the account of Manetho, the Egyptian priest and 
scribe quoted by Josephus, that this man was made the 
head-king with the consent and co-operation of the 
others. The invaders seem for a time to have been 
divided into several powerful bands. But the desire 
to secure a stronger central government overcame in 
time the separate interests of the leaders and the divided 
sovereignty was united in a single person. A colossal 
head has been discovered near Memphis which is sup- 
posed to be the portrait of Salatis.” He wears a 
heavily plaited wig very unlike that of the native 
Egyptians, and the ornaments of his head-gear are 
quite uncouth and barbaric in style. This head, like 
the celebrated “ Black Sphinx,” which is also doubt- 
less a portrait statue of some great Hyksos leader, is 
cut from black marble, for which these people showed 
a manifest predilection. Salatis fixed his royal resid- 
ence at Memphis, at the apex of the Delta. The site 
of this city is to-day a desolate waste, only a few piles 
of stone and a single fallen statue remaining to mark 
the site of what was once a flourishing capital of the 
greatest nation in the world. 

But in order to guard against invasion from the east 
Salatis fortified and garrisoned his most exposed cities. 
He seemed to be more solicitous concerning the war- 


(7) Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers, Miss Edwards, 145. 


| EGYPT UNDER THE HYKSOS. 67 


like tribes upon the east from whom he had himself 
proceeded than on account of the conquered Egyptians. 
He foresaw that the Assyrians might endeavor to 
penetrate through the tribes upon their west and make 
an attack upon the kingdom which he had acquired, 
and it therefore became especially important for him 
to guard the routes leading from Egypt to the east. 
He therefore rebuilt and fortified a city which he found 
upon the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and which on 
account of an old religious legend with regard to the 
worship of the left leg of Osiris was called Avaris 
(Ha-uar; “the place of the leg.”)® Salatis also 
chose for his second royal residence an ancient city in 
Lower Egypt, celebrated not only in secular history 
but in sacred history as well, as we shall note particu- 
larly under our next topic. He dwelt at Memphis for 
the greater part of the year, and came to his northern 
capitalronly at the period of harvest in order to collect 
his tribute and review and dicipline his troops, but his 
successors made this city their constant capital, and it 
continued to be so during the whole period of Hyksos 
domination. 

Three dynasties of the Hyksos are known to the 
students of Egyptian history, numbered in the records, 
XV, XVI and XVII. The first of these ruled only in 
the Delta. The second was supreme over the whole 
country, the native rulers in Upper Egypt having 
been reduced to mere tributaries, and their territory 
divided among a number of petty princes. The third 


(8) The site of Avaris is not definitely determined. By some author- 
ities it is identified with Tanis. Records of the Past, New Series, Sayce, 
II, 4o. 


68 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


dynasty felt the influence of the Egyptian revolt and 
were obliged to fight for their place and power, and 
were finally expelled from the country. The native 
sovereigns who succeeded them cherished such an 
exceeding aversion to their memory that, as has been 
noted, they destroyed almost all of the records of 
their reign, even the monuments which they left 
being recut or broken into fragments. In conse- 
quence the names of but three Hyksos kings are 
known to us, Salatis, the founder of the first dynasty, 
and two kings with the same name Aphobis (Apepi). 
The last Aphobis stands at the head of the third and 
last dynasty of the Shepherd Kings. There is now 
but little question among Egyptologists that it was 
during his reign that the children of Israel entered 
Egypt. But even before their coming other races of 
the common stock had sought refuge in the country. 
There is evidence from the monuments that the land 
was colonized during many generations by Edomite 
and Ishmaelite settlers, and the succeeding immigra- 
tion drew many even from distant Assyria. ‘There- 
fore, it was not strange that when the famine 
occurred in Canaan, the Hebrews should have fol- 
lowed a well-worn track and gone down into Egypt. 


TANIS-ZOAN. 


The capital of these Hyksos Kings to which we 
have referred as a place of great interest is known in 
the Bible as Zoan and in secular history as Tanis. 
The Egyptian name of this place is T’san. ‘This was 
changed into the softer form of Tanis by the Greeks, 


FOSLPH "AND THIS BRETHREN. 69 


but the initial T’s is the same letter as Z, like the Ger- 
man ‘ Tset,” so that T’san becomes Zan or Zoan. 
During the long period of Hyksos domination this city 
was the center and glory of Northern Egypt. It is a 
particularly interesting place to the student of provi- 
dential history, since it is intimately associated not only 
with the coming of the Hebrews, but also with their 
departure... 

A passage in the book of Numbers™ informs us that 
this city was built seven years after Hebron in Canaan. 
But Hebron was an old and well known town in the 
days of Abraham, so that the foundation of Tanis must 
date from great antiquity. The references to it in the 
Scripture are quite frequent for the reasons which have 
been given, and the Hebrews had special cause to 
remember it because of the “ marvelous things which 
the Lord did in the sight of their fathers in the land 
of Egypt in the field of Zoan.”“” To this place Abra- 
ham journeyed at the time of the famine in Canaan, 
and in the palace of one of its Hyksos kings his wife 
came very near to being a fair captive for life. To 
this place Joseph was brought by the Midianitish 
caravan and sold to the captain of Pharaoh’s guards. 


JOSE Pilea NDS HIS BRETHREN, 


By a singular course of providential circumstances, 
familiar to the readers of the Bible, Joseph was deliv- 
ered from imprisonment and advanced to exalted 
station. His promotion was the work of Aphobis 
iemeocetounder ol ithe last Flyksos dynasty..’ It 


(9) Numbers xiii: 22. (1O}"PSAIXxVill= F2. 


70 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


is fully set forth in the early traditions of the Christian 
Church, and receives very remarkable confirmation 
from the monuments. An inscription at Eilethyia, in 
Upper Egypt, relating to Baba, a captain under King 
Taa II, by whom the Hyksos were expelled, contains 
these words: ‘“‘I collected corn as a friend of the 
harvest god. I was watchful at the time of sowing, 
and when a famine arose lasting many years, I 
distributed corn to the city each year of the famine.” 


? is an occurrence 


As a famine “lasting many years’ 
of the very greatest infrequency in Egypt, and as only 
one such famine is known to history, this must be the 
same as that which Joseph had foreseen and for which 
he had provided, and definitely fixes his regency 
under the reign of the king whom Christian tradition 
has designated as his Pharaoh.“ , 

There is also a celebrated papyrus in the British 
Museum which dates from the fourteenth century B. C., 
the age of the great Rameses. Dr. Brugsch describes 
its contents as: “An ancient Egyptian fairy tale, the 
oldest fairy tale in the world.” It was composed by 
a scribe named Anna for Seti II, the grandson of 
Rameses II, when he was crown prince. ‘The first por- 
tion of it has a remarkable resemblance to the story 
of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, and there is little doubt 
that the scribe worked into his tale the same incident 
which the Bible has recorded. The chief persons in 
the tale are two brothers and the elder brother’s wife. 
The younger brother is falsely accused, very much as 
Joseph was; flees from his brother’s wrath, and, aided 


by the Sun-god, experiences a peculiar transformation. 
(11) Brugsch, Vol. I, ch. xii. 


FOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN. va 


The woman meets a well-deserved fate, and the two 
brothers are in the end reconciled, the younger 
becoming king of Egypt and the elder his regent and 
successor. rom these and other evidences which are 
furnished by tradition and history, it is now universally 
conceded that Joseph was, as the Bible declares him to 
have been, an Egyptian prime minister, and lee his 
king was Aphobis IT.° 

We read in Genesis that “‘ Pharaoh called Joseph’s 
name Zaphnath-paaneah, and he gave him to wife Ase- 
nath, the daughter of Poti-pherah, priest of On.” This 
wife Asenath was the mother of his two sons, Ephraim 
and Manasseh. Her father was the priest or “‘ prince ” 
of On. This was the name given to a distinguished 
city then at the height of its opulent and intellectual 
influence, the site of which has in modern times been 
well determined. The situation is marked by the 
ruins of the modern town of Matariyeh, the suburb of 
the old temple town of Heliopolis, half a mile distant. 
The name occurs several times in the Bible. Ezekiel 
calls it “Aven” and Jeremiah “‘ Bethshemesh.” This 
last name is only a transcription into Hebrew, having 
the same signification as Heliopolis in Greek, ‘ The 
City of the Sun.” The name of the city doubtless 
refers to the form of worship which was there 
celebrated. 

It appears, therefore, from the Scriptures and from 
the corroboration afforded by the Egyptian monu- 
ments that Joseph enjoyed special influence. under 


(12) A very instructive article, illustrating Joseph’s life in Egypt by 
the Egyptian records, will be found in the Yournal of the Victoria Instz- 
tute, No. 57. 

(13) Gen. xli: 45. 


72 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


this shepherd king. He was also in a position to 
confer special privileges upon his brethren. A certain 
paragraph in the Bible story which has given consider- 
able trouble to historians and to commentators becomes 
entirely intelligible in view of the facts which have 
been stated. Joseph instructed his brethren, when the 
king should call for. them and ask,‘ What is your 
occupation?’’ to answer, “Thy servant’s trade has 
been about cattle from our youth even until now, both 
we and our fathers,”’ and the same historian gives the 
reason: ‘For every shepherd is an abomination 
unto the Egyptians." The brethren of Joseph were 
instructed to say that they were shepherds (which 
was the truth with regard to them), hoping it would 
bring them at once into favor with this king, who was 
not an Egyptian by descent, but a foreigner. They would 
thus be shown to be akin, not to the native princes on 
the south, but to the invaders of the north, and might 
thus be expected to become their faithful allies.%) 

The policy of Joseph in this instance displays his 
usual wisdom. It was entirely successful. The He- 
brews at once entered upon the enjoyment of certain 
special advantages in view of the fact that they 
belonged to the same general stock as the Hyksos 
kings, and especially in view of the fact that one of 
their own number occupied the second place in the 
kingdom and had already rendered distinguished 
services. 


(14) Gen. xlvi: 33, 34. 
(15)See The Bible and Modern Discoveries , Harper, p. 70. 


—_ = 


LHE SCHOOL-HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 1é, 


Here then in the vicinity of the capital city of Tanis 
is the school-house of Israel. The “ Field of Zoan” in 
the days which we are considering was a rich alluvial 
plain, well adapted to the pursuits of those shepherds 
who had entered Egypt under Salatis, and well adapted 
also to the avocation of Joseph’s brethern who were 
shepherds themselves. Its original character cannot be 
inferred from the condition of the region to-day. It is 
now a barren waste. Many miles of it have been 
covered by the salt waters of Lake Menzaleh. The 
broad fields where the Israelites pastured their flocks, 
have many of them been converted into desolate © 
marshes. Heaps of sand have been piled over other 
sections, and the glory of the land has departed. But 
in the days of Joseph it was a section of great fertility 
and beauty.“ M. Naville locates the particular section 
which was colonized by the Israelites in the general 
region lying between the present city of Belbeis and 
Tel-el-Kebir. At that time it was not one of the prov- 
inces of Egypt nor divided among the inhabitants who 
were regularly settled. It was rather an uncultivated 
district, sufficiently watered to produce good pastur- 
age and might be suitably assigned to foreigners with- 
out despoiling the native inhabitants. There is an 
allusion to the section in a certain Egyptian inscription 
written after the Exodus, in which we are told that ‘the 
country near Bailos (Belbeis) was not cultivated, but 
lee as pasture for cattle.”“" There was thus only a 
short distance between the royal residence of Joseph 
and the territory allotted to his brethren. He settled 
his family near himself in the section which was best 


(16) Picturesque Palestine; 11: 361. (17) Victoria Institute, No. 9o. 


rES THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


fitted for the breeding of cattle, and probably adjoin- 
ing the pastures of the king’s own flocks; because we 
are informed in the sacred story that certain of the 
brethren of Joseph were entrusted with the keeping of 
the royal cattle as chief of the king’s herdsmen. 


SCHOOL ‘BEGINS. 


Under such favoring circumstances the School of 
Providence is opened. It is to be a graded school, and 


the grades shall be fourinnumber. The Israelites now 


enter upon the first grade. If they are ever to become 
a settled people they must be taught to give up their 
roving habits. ‘They must cease to be nomads, such 
as their cousins the Ishmaelites still remain, and be 
transformed into agriculturists. This then is the les- 
son of the first grade. ‘The transformation is easily 
and naturally effected. The royal patron of these 
Israelites was once a nomad himself. Joseph, his vice- 
roy has been one also. It will be easy to follow where 
they lead. So at the first grazing is combined with 
husbandry, though in order even to grazing certain 
agricultural methods must necessarily be employed. 
The monuments are very rich in detail showing in full 
the means employed by the farmers of that early age. 
Indeed, the system has changed but little in the course 
of centuries. The cultivation of the fields was accom- 
plished by irrigation, canals running from the river 
banks to the greatest distance permitted by the lay of 
the land, with smaller canals branching from them 
and covering the whole face of the country as with a 
network. The water was raised from the river by 


(18) Genesis xlvii: 6. 


. 
. 


SCHOOL BEGINS. 75 


various machines like those still in use. The sim- 
plest machine was the ‘“shadoof?’ which consisted 
of a long heavy pole with a rude bucket on one end 
and a lump of Nile mud upon the other. There was 
also the more complicated ‘‘sakkieh,”’ which consisted 
of an endless chain moving about a toothed wheel and 
operated by ox or camel power. To this chain was 
fastened a number of buckets which dipped and dis- 
charged the water in rotation. The Israelites without 
doubt used these machines as the Egyptians do to-day, 
and cultivated their fields with the same rude wooden 
plows which the traveler in the land of the Pharaohs 
sees 1n our own age. 

Nor was it all work with them. The Scripture 
refers to the abundance which they enjoyed in the pro- 
lific climate. The rivers were full of fish, the plains 
abounded with game, and a large variety of wild fowl 
were found upon their waters. Goshen was a sports- 
man’s paradise. 

So for several generations during the first session of 
their school, the life of the people passed pleasantly 
away. But the preparatory grade completed the 
scholars must be conducted into the next. In the 
second grade they shall study the science of building, 
for into that land in which God will lead them by and 
by they must not only plant vineyards and till farms, 
but they must also erect houses, raise the walls of 
cities, and at last build a temple for the earthly dwell- 
ing place of their Eternal King. For this second term, 
however, a new class of teachers is provided; and the 
king arose ‘‘ who knew not Joseph.” 


70 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS. 


The empire of the Hyksos was now upon the eve of 
its decline. The same king who had made Joseph his 
regent became involved in serious trouble with the 
native princes upon the south. It would appear that 
the power which was so long enjoyed had encouraged 
him to put upon them an indignity beyond any which 
they had yet suffered and which even in their weak- 
ness they were not prepared to tolerate. Aphobis 
attempted to impose the worship of his own Semitic 
god, ‘‘ Baal-Sutekh,” upon the native races. 

Baal-Sutekh is a compound of a Semitic word with 
an Egyptian one. The Semitic ‘“‘ Baal” is a familiar 
one to the Bible student. Where it stands alone it 
signifies only ‘‘ Lord,” but it is often used in composi- 
tion to denote a particular divinity. Thus we have in 
the Scripture such compositions as ‘‘ Baal-Berith,” the 
Lord of the Covenant, ‘‘ Baal-gad,” the Lord of For- 
tune, ‘‘ Baal-Zebub,” the Lord of Flies, and many 
others. The name ofthe Hyksos god is itself preserved 
in scripture in “ Baal-Zephon,” the name of the place 
where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.“® Set, 
Sutekh, is an old Egyptian word. The god Set, who 
is also called Typhon (Zephon) was the Destroyer, 
and had been worshiped from the foundation of Mem- 
phis, the seat of his peculiar cult. ‘The Hyksos kings 
had compounded his name with that of their own god, 
and Baal-Sutekh (Baal-Zephon) was the peculiar divin- 
ity of the invaders. The very composition, however, 
was an offense to the native Egyptians, and the at- 


(19) Exodus xiv: 9. 


THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS. fea 


tempts to introduce his worship among them by force 
was resisted as no other act of tyranny had been. 

In all ages no question so fires the heart as a relig- 
ous one; no battle is so desperate as that which con- 
cerns the altar and its sacrifice. It was so then. The 
attempted indignity nerved the native Egyptians for a 
conflict to which they had been hitherto unequal. 

At this time, according to a papyrus in the Brit- 
ish Museum, there was an under-king in the south, 
Ra-Sekenen, by name. He had incurred for some 
reason, Which does not appear, the special displea- 
sure of the tyrant of the north, who sought to hurl 
him from his throne, and for this purpose manu- 
factured a pretext to carry out his intention. He 
required of him to give up the worship of his 
own gods that Baal-Sutekh might be the sole di- 
vinity of Egypt. Ra-Sekenen made a reply to the 
king’s messenger, which is lacking, owing to the 
mutilation of the papyrus. We know that the foreign 
messenger was hospitably entertained and sent back 
to the court of his king, while Ra-Sekenen in all haste 
called his counsellors about him, and while they were 
silent in their great apprehension and grief, himself 
determined what he would do. The details of the 
history cannot here be given.®? It is enough for us 
to record that Ra-Sekenen inaugurated the successful 
uprising of the native Egyptians against the foreign 
tyrants, and became the Garibaldi of Egyptian 
independence. ‘The native Egyptians chose him for 
their leader and elevated him to the sovereignty, 


(20) A translation of the papyrus is given by Prof. Maspero, in Records 
of the Past, New Series, Vol. II, 40. Prof. Maspero, however, is inclined 
to treat the story as a historical romance. 


75 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


wherein he assumed the name of Ta-Aken as his 
royal designation. He was a capable, judicious and 
brave man, and finally fell in battle fighting for the 
independence of his people. His body was hastily 
embalmed, taken to Thebes and buried. 

The conflict between the native and foreign princes 
lasted many years, until the Hyksos were driven into 
their last strongholds in the Delta. They were finally 
besieged in the city of ‘Tanis, their capital, which was 
sacked and its inhabitants slaughtered, while the great 
temple of the god Baal-Sutekh (whose imposed wor- 
ship had been the occasion of the revolution by which 
the native princes were re-invested with dominion) 


was burned with fire. 
HATASU AND THOTHMES. 


The dynasty of native kings which followed the res- 
toration continued in power for about three hundred 
years. It is known as the XVIII. Its earlier kings 
were occupied with the work of reconstruction, and 
nothing of special value to us is to be noted concern- 
ing them. But about midway in their history we 
come upon two sovereigns of great ability, during 
whose reign Egypt was signally happy and prosperous, 
and the children of Israel, as yet unoppressed, must 
have made remarkable progress in every way. To this 
period should probably be referred the seventh verse 
of the first chapter of Exodus in which, after the record 
of the death of Joseph and his generation we read: 
“The children of Israel were fruitful and increased 
abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding 
mighty and the land was filled with them.”’ 


HMATASU AND THOTHMES, 79 


The first of these two great sovereigns was a woman, 
Queen Hatasu, well called the Queen Elizabeth of 
Egyptian history.2 She reigned about thirty years, 
with results very similar to those of the Elizabethan 
era. It was a period of invention, of intellectual re- 
vival, of long voyages of discovery, of increasing 
wealth, and above all of profound peace. Queen 
Hatasu built vessels of greater size than any ever con- 
structed and upon a new model. This revolution in 
Egyptian ship-building produced results in character 
and importance not unlike those that transpired upon 
the development of steam navigation in our own age. 
The Egyptians became a sea-going people. This 
brought at the first culture and wealth, and soon led 
in turn to political ambition, extension and conquest. 

But while the Israelites were spectators of all this 
and shared in its advantages, we.are more particularly 
concerned on their account with more important feat- 
ures. ‘The Israelites were not in Egypt to learn navi- 
gation. They were there first of all to learn from the 
sovereigns of this period how to build; and although 
the plan, first of their tabernacle and afterwards of 
their temple, was divine; yet it were preposterous to 
suppose that no human elements of training were in- 
cluded. On the contrary it is a most singular fact that 
the Israelites dwelt in Egypt at the very period when 
its sovereigns gave their particular attention to this 
branch of architecture. 

Queen Hatasu heads the list of the more conspicuous 
temple-builders of Egypt. The development of Eeypt- 
ian architecture during the five hundred years which 


(21) See Pharaohs, Fellahs and Lxplorers, Miss Edwards, chap. viii. 


SO THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


succeeded bears a close resemblance to the develop- 
ment of Gothic architecture in Europe. It is marked 
by three distinct periods. First, that of the plain and 
simple, corresponding to the Anglo-Norman style. 
Second, the stately and massive, corresponding to the 
best Gothic; and third, the ornamental and meretri- 
cious, corresponding to the perpendicular or flamboy- 
ant. The reader will, however, note well the fact that 
the Israelites never took lessons in the third style, as 
it did not make its appearance until one hundred years 
after the Exodus. 

Hatasu was succeeded by her brother, Thothmes 
lI. While he was not in all respects the greatest of 
the kings of Egypt, he was at least her greatest military 
genius. He is called the Alexander the Great of 
Egypt. But we are not concerned with his wars. He 
was a temple-builder of conspicuous note, and the re- 
mains of his great temple at Thebes are still standing. 
The columns are polygonal, very regular and plain, 
unbroken by any figure whatsoever.°? This is the 
Norman age of Egyptian architecture. 


Lh Ex Xe DY NAS LY. 


We pass now over a clean century ana reach the 
XIX dynasty. It is the most remarkable in Egyptian 
history, and it is the dynasty of the Hebrew bondage 
and exodus. It displayed physical vigor and intellectual 
power beyond any that Egypt had as yet seen. Under 
its kings the former invaders of the country were 
followed into Asia and still further humiliated. The 
Egyptian conquests were extended until almost all 


(22) Pharaohs, Fellahs , p. 173. 


ry 
LLO% 
GTNVS 
Sd l 


ss 


2 


LHP D ENA SI: Sr 


Syria had fallen under the yoke, and the Egyptian 
sovereigns reigned supreme from Ethiopia on the south, 
to the Orontes on the north, and the Euphrates on the 
east. The first king of this dynasty is Rameses I., the 
first sovereign of the great Ramesside. He was suc- 
ceeded by his son Seti I. Mark well his name. Seti, 
or Set, is the same as Sutekh, the name of the god of 
the ancient Hyksos! 

Seti I. was a great warrior and a great statesman, 
but he was a greater architect and builder. In him 
and his more illustrious son Egyptian architecture 
passed into its second stage, corresponding to the best 
period of the European Gothic, and those splendid 
edifices were erected at Thebes, which are still the 
admiration and despair of the civilized world. 

There was growth, and very rapid growth, in arch- 
itecture under Seti I. His great temple at Abydos, 
about one hundred miles north of Thebes, is built in 
the style of the former dynasty, though more massive 
and symmetrical. But towards the close of his reign 
a great architect appeared. His name was Bak-en- 
Khonsu. This Egyptian Angelo deserves the credit 
for the advance in architecture which is noted during 
the reign of Seti. His work is massive and symmetri- 
cal beyond description, and no mere language can do 
it justice. 

Meanwhile let us remember the Israelites were at 
school, fitting themselves to become the teachers of 


mankind. 


RAMESE Sei ba (So ES0OS TRIS.) 


But King Seti only prepared the way for his more 


82 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


remarkable son. He was to his successor what Philip 
was to Alexander, or David to Solomon. 

His wife, whose name was Tua, ranked as a pure 
Egyptian, for her father was such, but her mother was 
a princess of Mesopotamia, and in her face the Egyptian 
and Assyrian lineaments, as shown by her portrait- 
statue which still exists, were strangely but beautifully 
blended. She gave birth to the Pharaoh of the 
bondage, the king who made slaves of the Children of 
Israel, and obliged them to serve with rigor until their 
eroans entered into the ears of the Lord God of their 
fathers. 

Rameses II. was the greatest of all the kings of 
Egypt. He kept his throne for sixty-seven years, and 
died a centenarian. His reign was distinguished by an 
intellectual and political renaissance in which the 
power and glory, which had been on the increase from 
the accession of his grandfather Rameses I., culminated. 
The most remarkable of all facts, however, in con- 
nection with him, and without which his remarkable 
character and career cannot be fully explained, is this: 
He was not an Egyptian by descent, but an Assyrian. 
His grandfather, Rameses I., was a usurper. Little is 
known about him, except that he was in some way 
allied to the Shepherd kings who had been expelled 
from the country two hundred years before. Seti, the 
son of Rameses I. and the father of Rameses II., in 
order to assure the right of his descendants to the 
throne of Egypt, married the Egyptian princess Tua 
to whom we have just referred. Rameses II., there- 
fore, held his throne in the estimation of his sub- 
jects by rights inherited from his mother, while he 


RAMESES II. (SESOSTRIS.) 53 


himself upon his father’s side was an Assyrian. 
Historians have always been perplexed by his peculiar- 
ities. ‘They were convinced that he did not belong to 
the pure Egyptian race. Years ago Lenormant called 
attention to the classical regularity of his features, 
denoting an origin drawn from some other people 
than the descendants of Ham.) There were also 
indications that the race from which he was descended 
was allied to that of the Shepherds, many of whose 
followers, notwithstanding the wars of extermination, 
still remained in the delta of the Nile. As though in 
keeping with this theory, an inscription discovered at 
T’anis records the re-establishment by Rameses of the 
worship of the national deity of the Hyksos in their 
ancient capital—of which more hereafter. The reader 
is familiar with the ‘‘ Finding of Pharaoh” in July, 
1881, by Emil Brugsch Bey. In connection with this 
remarkable discovery it has been finally determined 
that Rameses the Great is the explanation of the 
hitherto enigmatical statement of Isaiah: ‘“‘ Thus saith 
the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into 
Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed 
then without cause,” °) 

At the time of the accession of Rameses, and doubt- 
less owing largely to his authority, Semitic influences 
preponderated in Egyptian affairs. The coming of 
the Semitic hordes had produced in Egypt very much 
the same effect which the incursion of the northern 
barbarians produced upon Italy in the early centuries 
of our own era. At first they blighted and wasted 


(23) Ancient Ffistory of the East, Book III, chap. iii. 
(24) Is. lii:4. See UVarda, George Ebers: chaps. ix and xxvi. 


54 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


that which they had overcome; but after a time tne 
infusion of fresh blood reinvigorated the effete people, 
and the outcome was a new Egypt, as subsequently it 
was a new Italy. Egyptian civilization experienced 
a new birth. Egypt became young again. Satiated 
with the traditions of thousands of years which had 
now vanished into the past, they found a positive 
pleasure in the fresh and lively vigor of the Semitic 
spirit. ‘There was a new generation of poets, histori- 
ans, sculptors and architects; and the age of Rameses 
was to Egypt what the age of the Medici was to Italy. 
The most flourishing period of Egyptian history was 
introduced. Egyptian art and literature attained their 
highest perfection, while both show distinct traces of 
Semitic influence.?) The Egyptian language is at 
this point enriched with foreign expressions. ‘The 
letters and documents of the time are full of Semitic 
words. The scribes seem to have felt a sentimental 
craving for the use of them, without any real necessity, 
in order to give to themselves, in the eyes of the public, 
an air of learned culture. At the head of the long 
list of graceful and distinguished writers stands the 
poet Pentaur, the Homer of Egypt, some of whose 
productions have come down to us. It is for such 
reasons, therefore, derived from the condition of affairs 
at this juncture, that we are justified in characterizing 
the Egyptian domination during the entire period of 
Hebrew residence as Semitic. 

Rameses himself is the flower and crown of the 
age. He has extended his empire both south and 
east, until Ethiopia, Arabia, Syria, and even a portion 


(25) See ‘‘ Uarda,’’ chap. vill. 


‘Vict Wag Davis Gl ay ga RNS by) 


PORTIONS OF THE RAMESSEUM RESTORED. 


RAMESES II. (SESOSTRIS,) 85 


of Mesopotamia, have been added to it.°? Heisa 
man of such remarkable physical power as to be able 
single-handed to overcome a host of enemies, and in 
the thick of the fight to cut his way through opposing 
numbers, even after his charioteer has been slain, and 
he must not only wield his weapons, but guide his 
horses also. His great muscular power is associated 
also with remarkable physical endurance. He surpasses 
all other Egyptian monarchs in the length of his reign. 
He is a man of intense activity. He is the greatest of 
all Egyptian builders. His monuments cover the soil 
of Egypt and Nubia in incredible numbers. There is 
scarcely a ruin that does not bear his name. Some of 
the most remarkable temples were built by him, notably 
the celebrated Ramesseum of Thebes, and the rock 
Temple of Ipsamboul.°” The former building was a 
splendid monument, and one of the most perfect of 
Egypt—the work of Bak-en-Khonsu. 


“¢ As we stand in the shadow of its mighty columns,” says a 
certain writer, “we begin to realize the majesty of the Theban 
sanctuary and the magnificence of the king who could rear such 
a temple to his praise. There on the pylons was the spectacle 
of his triumphs. Above all, the supreme scene where, de- 
serted by his body-guard, and surrounded by the enemy, 
Rameses throws himself into the thick of the fray, with single 
arm deals death around, kills with his own hand the chief of 
the Hittites, and crushes the fleeing foe under his chariot wheels; 
and when his officers crowd around him with servile solicitations, 
denounces them for their cowardice.” (28) 

The colossal portrait-statue of Rameses, with which 


this temple was adorned, was the most gigantic figure 


which the Egyptians ever carved out of a single block 
(26) Ancient History , Rawlinson, 84. 
(27) See Hours with the Bible, Geike, HI, 76. 
(28) Picturesque Palestine, Il, 433. “ Uarda,’’ ch. xlvii. 


86 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


of granite. It was fifty feet in height, and weighed 


nearly 1200 tons. 


TANIS RE-BUILT. 


But in the providence of God, and in order that the 
divine control of human affairs might be distinctly set 
forth and emphasized, Rameses was led to select for 
his permanent abode and chief royal residence the 
ancient capital of the Hyksos. For 300 years ‘Tanis 
had lain in ruins, but for the divine purpose connected 
with the emancipation of the chosen people, it must be 
rebuilt, and Rameses, the oppressor of the Israelites, 
is the king who is selected to do the work. 

Although he had raised his monument in Thebes, 
and held public court in Memphis, and dedicated a 
temple in Heliopolis, yet no one of these was to be his 
permanent abode. His dominions were so extensive 
towards the east and north that it became necessary 
for him to reside in some city in the northern part of 
Egypt, and therefore at his royal command ‘anis 
arose from its ruins. Its fortifications were strength- 
ened. It was magnificently adorned. Ebers has given 
us some idea of the splendor with which the king 
surrounded himself in a description of his royal palace 
at Thebes. He tells us that it was more like a little 
town than a house. The part for use by the royal 
family commanded a view of the Nile, from which it 
offered to the passing vessels a pleasing prospect, as it 
stood amidst its gardens and its picturesque buildings. 
It contained immense state rooms and a banqueting 
hall, and comprised three rows of pavilions of different 
sizes, extending in symmetrical order. ‘These were 


TANIS RE-BUILT. 87 


connected with each other by collonades or by little 
bridges, under which flowed canals that watered the 
gardens and gave the palace the aspect of a town 
upon islands. ‘The walls and pillars, and even the 
roofs, blazed with many colors, and at every gate rose 
tall masts, from which red and blue flags streamed 
when the king was in residence.© 

Such was Thebes; but Thebes should be eclipsed by 
Tanis. <A description of the city and the surrounding 
district is given in a letter written by a certain scribe 
named Panbesa. This contemporary of Moses con- 
veys to us an idea of the condition of that region 
which was the home of the Israelites. The writer 
Says: 

‘So I arrived at the city of Rameses, and I found it excel- 
lent. Nothing can compare with it on Theban soil. It: is 
pleasant to live in. Its fields are full of good things, and life 
passes in constant plenty and abundance. Its canals are rich in 
fish, its lakes swarm with birds, its meadows are green with 


vegetables; there is no end of lentils; melons with a taste like 
honey grow in the irrigated fields.” 


Then follows a long and detailed description of the ~ 
flowers, fruits and birds of the district; while even the 
courtesy of the people is described, the songs of the 
women lauded, and their beauty enthusiastically ex- 
tolled. 

We are able to restore this city from data that can- 
not be questioned.®® ‘The spade of the excavator has 
laid bare the walls, and shown the very location of its 
gates and towers. ‘The foundations of its important 


(eCaraa, ch. xxi, »oee also Ebers’ “Egypt, Volzi, p:.97. 


(30) See The Story of Tanis, Miss Edwards, Harper’s Magazine, Oct. 
1886. Brugsch, Vol. I, ch. xii. 


88 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


buildings have been discovered, while the broken frag- 
ments of them which remain inform us concerning 
their character, 

The city lay on the eastern side of the Tanitic branch 
of the Nile, facing westward. The traveler, in the 
days of Moses, as he sailed down the river towards the 
north, passed great gateways to suburban temples or 
private residences, catching a glint of the sea in the 
distance, and landed finally at the foot of a splendid 
stone stairway. Disembarking here he approached 
the city by a paved roadway through a double row of 
massive sphinxes leading from the landing to the gate 
of the city, nearly half a mile away. Passing the gate 
the traveler advanced through a double court-yard 
flanked by high pylons to the principal avenue, the Via 
Sacra of the metropolis. This avenue was 400 feet 
long. On either side there was a row of obelisks and 
colossi, constructed of different kinds of stone in order 
to the subtlest play of light and color. At the end of 
the avenue rose the splendid temple of Ra, one of the 
most magnificent buildings in all Egypt. 

The remaining portion of the city was in keeping 
with its more sacred part. It was furnished every- 
where with the utmost splendor. It was the design of 
Rameses to make of this city of Tanis not only a mag- 
nificent royal residence, but also a temple-city, the 
holy places of which should be dedicated to the gods 
of the country. The great temple of Ra, however, was 
his crowning work. It was substantially a temple to 
Rameses himself, and his immense portrait-statue was 
erected beside its entrance. This great image sur- 
passed in size the monolith which Rameses had erected 


TANIS RE-BUILT. 89 


at Thebes. It was cut from the precious red granite 
of Syene, a thousand miles up the Nile. It was 90 feet 
high, and the pedestal upon which it stood was 30 feet, 
the whole erected upon a raised court-yard overlooking 
every object in the city. 

But the strangest fact in connection with the religious 
designs of the royal schemer was this: remembering 
that his own capital had been built on the site of the 
ancient capital of the Hyksos, and possibly also because 
he himself was of Hyksos or kindred extraction, he 
rebuilt the temple of the Hyksos god, Baal-Sutekh, and 
his own efhgey was carved for a statue of the god. 
Baal-Sutekh indeed was his patron god, and is so rep- 
resented in the great poem of Pentaur descriptive of 
the campaigns of the king in Syria. He is represented 
as appealing to this god for aid in his battle against the 
Hittites. His answer is received ina special inspiration 
of strength, and he cries: 

‘¢T am as Baal in his wrath. The chariots which encompass 
me are dashed to pieces under the hoofs of my horses. Head- 
long I drive them to the waters edge.” 

His enemies are then represented as crying aloud: 

‘This is no mere man who is in the midst of us. It is 
Sutekh, the glorious, it is Baal in the flesh.” (81) 

This is sufficient to show the peculiar character of 
his sovereignty and the arbitrary nature of his religious 
projects. He ventured to defy the very sentiment of 
the people over whom he ruled, the defiance of which 
three centuries before had cost a king his crown and 
the whole conquering race their territory. 

Yet it may have contented his subjects that the 


(31) Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers, 208. Brugsch, II: go. 


go THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


temple of Sutehk was surpassed by the temple of Ra, 
their own chief divinity, to whom Rameses always 
yielded the priority. 

To be beheld at its best the capital of Rameses 
should have been seen when the king himself was in 
residence. Let us suppose that he has just returned 
from some successful military expedition. ‘The houses 
are then decked with garlands, the citizens are in holi- 
day attire. The river is crowded with decorated 
shipping. It is a grand carnival in honor of the con- 
queror. He has landed at the great stairway and is 


now moving up the avenue of sphinxes toward the, 


city gates. Here comes the great procession; foot 
soldiers bearing their heavy weapons adorned with 
palm branches; archers with bows and boomerangs; 
runners with javelins; Nubians with clubs and axes, 
and Sardinian mercenaries with short swords. ‘Then 
follow the chariots, each with warrior and driver; the 
prisoners chained man to man, an indescribable display 
of trophy; and finally, amid the greatest clamor, and 
surrounded by his glittering body-guard, the king 
himself. He rides in his gilded chariot, attended 
by the high priest of his divinity, who burns incense be- 
fore him. He is clad in flowing robes of fine white 
muslin, which are girded about his waist witha jeweled 
belt. His helmet is covered with a leopard’s skin. 
His arms are bare and shine with glittering bracelets. 
Behind him follow his war lions, held in leash by their 
keeper, and at his chariot wheels march his sons, 
adorned with ostrich feathers. He stands upright to 
receive the congratulations and adoration of his peo- 
ple, and thus moves up the splendid avenue toward the 


IM BOON Mag dyer sya & QI 


temple gates. Here the priests receive him, salute 
him as divine, honor him as the son of Ra, their chief 
divinity, and attend him as he passes into the temple 
to praise the gods for his victories and to devote to 
imemenis spoils: Such; then) is. Tanis, and such is, its 
builder and its king. 


DE Ber ool Ne: 


We observe, therefore, that with the rebuilding of 
Tanis the Israelites pass from the second stage of their 
providential school into the third, in order to learn 
some lessons not yet acquired. Their political unity 
must be effected; they must be welded into a nation. 
But such a welding is a fiery process. It has never 
been accomplished except in a furnace; and the hotter 
the flame the more compact the union. 

No lesson is more plainly taught to us by history 
than this: that common suffering has been the most 
potent of all factors in the creation of a national spirit 
and a national life. It teaches men the rights of each 
other. It makes them brethren. Through this experi- 
ence, therefore, the Hebrews must pass, and Rameses 
the Great shall be their oppressor. He has no sympa- 
thy for those whom he regards as Canaanites and his 
tremendous building ambitions are well served by the 
Egyptian hatred of foreigners; particularly of all who 

have been in any way related to the Shepherd kings. 
So he sends the Hebrews into his brick yards.” 

The result was a galling bondage, the character of 
which is fully set forth upon the Egyptian monuments. 
His slaves were branded with a hot iron to prevent 


(32) See Harper’s Bzdle and Modern Discoveries, ch. ii. 


Q2 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


their flight and to facilitate their re-capture. Most of 
them were kept in Egypt; but large numbers were 
sent to the quarries on the borders of Ethiopia, or to 
the mines of Arabia Petreea, beyond the Red Sea.°” 
The king also entered into an alliance with the Syr- 
ians, by whose terms it was expressly agreed that 
fugitive slaves should be returned to him. The oldest 
diplomatic document extant, which has been preserved 
in an inscription at Thebes, is the text of a treaty 
between Rameses and the Hittites, upon the River 
Orontes, with whom he had been at war, but with 
whom a final treaty of peace had been concluded. The 
document stipulates for perpetual peace and alliance 
between the two nations, and the two kings recipro- 
cally promise to give no asylum each to the servants 
or subjects of the other who may have left their own 
country: 

“Tf there flee away of the inhabitants (one from the land of 
Egypt) or two or three, and they betake themselves to the great 
king of Khita, (the great king of Khita shall not) allow them 
(to remain but he shall) deliver them up and send them back to 
Ramessu Miamun, the great prince of Egypt. In the same 
way shall it be done if inhabitants of the land of Khita take to 
flight, be it one alone or two or three, to betake themselves to 
Ramessu Miamun, the great prince of Egypt. Ramessu 
Miamun the great prince of Egypt shall cause them to be seized 
and they shall be delivered up to the great king of Khita.”@*) 

It is perfectly evident, however, that Pharaoh was 
the greater gainer by this treaty. ‘The construction of 
his works was attended with an expenditure of human 
misery of which we can scarcely conceive. The 
buildings which he erected were more numerous than 


(33) See Uarda, ch. xxxiv. 
(34) Roypt under the Pharaohs , Il, 76. 


——— - 


THE OPPRESSION. 93 


those of all the other kings of Egypt for two thousand 
years, and they required him to press into his service 
all the population he could venture to enslave. It fills 
the mind with horror to think of the thousands of 
prisoners or forced laborers who must have died 
under the blows of their drivers, or under the weight 
of privations and toil, which were often suffered 
without any intermission, days and nights together 
being sometimes consumed without any rest. Even 
the native population had to suffer. A letter of the 
period is still extant which tells how the tax-collector 
at the wharf of the district was accustomed to receive 
the government share of the crops. His men were 
armed with clubs and with batons of palmwood, cry- 
ing out ‘“‘ Where is thy wheat?’? There was no way 
of checking their exactions. If they were not satis- 
fied with the government share the poor wretch was 
seized, thrown upon the ground, bound and dragged 
off to the canal at hand, where he was thrown in. 
His wife was bound, and she and his children enslaved. 
The tasks to which these slaves were set included all 
that the plans of Rameses demanded. ‘They were 
marched in gangs to the quarries to hew out huge 
blocks of stone. They dragged them with their own 
arms, like beasts of burden, to their respective desti- 
nations, urged on by the lash of the driver. They 
dug canals; they made bricks and mixed mortar, for 
the countless buildings always in course of erection; 
they built dikes along the Nile, and the canals by 
which its waters were conducted to the lands. We 
may still see them, in the pictures upon the monuments, 
naked under the burning sun, working like pieces of 


94 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


machinery in “all manner of service, in the held 
wherein they made them serve with rigor.” Says an 
inscription of the period: ‘It is very hard to make the 
smooth road on which the Colossus is to slide along; 
but how unspeakably harder to drag the huge mass 


like beasts of burden.” There was no machinery and 
little mechanical help. The strain was wholly upon 
human muscles and sinews. ‘ The arms of the work- 


man,” continues the inscription, “are utterly worn 
out. ‘His food is a mixture of all things vile. He can 
wash himself only once in a season.” ‘The oppression 
of the Egyptian rulers has always been very great. 
As late as the reign of Pharaoh Necho 100,000 men 
were sacrificed in excavating for a_ single canal. 
Thirty thousand died in this very century in a similar 
task, digging out the earth from the trench with their 
hands, without picks or spades or wheelbarrows.®” 

A recent traveler in Egypt describes a scene illustrat- 
ing the oppression of the people of Israel in connection 
with the inauguration of the Suez Canal. A journey 
was taken across the desert upon an imposing carriage- 
way constructed for the special benefit of the French 
Empress. The inundation, which was more extensive 
than usual, had carried away at different points a mile 
or two of the embankment along the ridge of which 
the path was laid. Frightful gullies had been washed 
out and the earth distributed over the plains, and 
gangs of men, women and children were put to work 
at the repairs. The writer says: 

« All along the way we hurried through them, and there 


is no doubt we saw the old scenes of the bondage of Israel 


(35) Hours with the Bible, Il, 77. 


eS eee Cle 


— ee 


HE OPPRESSION: 95 


reproduced on nearly the same soil. There were taskmasters, 
with stick in hand, squatting lazily on the banks, indolent even 
in observation, requiring almost to be waked up in order to 
receive the reckonings reported to them. 

There must have been at least two or three thousand people 
at work. They swarmed over the wide excavations from 
which they took their earth like so many brown ants bearing 
sand grains. Each had a small shallow basket on his head. 
You could not make it hold more than about a peck. These 
they all filled by scooping up the soil with their hands. Then 
tossing them up they caught them dextrously upon their heads 
and walked listlessly over the long way to the place of deposits, 
tipped them over again and then squatted beside the feeble 
little heaps to pat them level with their palms. It seemed so 
insignificant as a piece of actual enterprise that we could hardly 
believe they were not deep in the laboriousness of our early 
childhood making dirt pies in sand. 

Every now and then one of the unclad creatures would come 
timidly up to the overseer to report numbers of baskets or hours 
of time, and with an immense deliberation, the ink-stand at his 
belt would be unloosed, the reed pen carefully tested on the 
thumb nail, and the fragment of paper spread out over the left 
hand to be slowly written upon with the right, as the tally was 
entered. If anything seemed short, a quick rush of rage filled 
the taskmaster’s cheek and the whack of his stick sent the 
laborer off to his toil. 

The spirit of these poor creatures was intensely desolate, their 
countenances seemed positively forlorn, everything was hopeless, 
and the uneasy sense of wrath in some of the eyes as they saw 
rich people lying at ease upon satin cushions in their equipages, 
was harsh with menace for the future of Egypt. 

I heard one of the fellaheen songs which Dean Stanley 
describes. Egypt never changes, and the sympathetic ear can 
listen to the same moans that Moses heard. There on the same 
soil one often sees the whip and shrinks from the whistling 
crack of it as it falls on the bare back of man or maiden, boy or 
girl; and there is the muttering of the same old taunting strain 
under one’s breath, full of wild revenge and of hissing hatred, 
the moment a poor creature is just out of earshot of the tor- 
mentors: ‘The chief of the village, the chief of the village! 


96 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


may the dogs tear him, tear him in pieces! The chief of the 
village, may the dogs tear him, tear him !’ ” (36) 

But we can scarcely believe that such misery even 
as this approached in depth and severity the misery of 
the captive Israelites. The Scripture says that “ the 
Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with 
rigor.” The word “rigor” is an unusual one. Moses 
employs it only in two connections. According to the 
dictionaries it is a medical term signifying a sudden 
coldness attended by shivering, a convulsive shudder- 
ing with tightening of the skin, that last stiffening of 
the muscles which follows dissolution, the unfailing 
sign of death, the r¢gor mortis. The sense of the 
Hebrew word is thus correctly conveyed, and indicates 
a degree of pain beyond the comprehension of those 
who have never seen such bondage as that to which 
the Israelites were subjected. 


EGYPTIAN IDOLATRY. 


So again there began to appear another illustration 
of the ‘fullness of time.” The Hebrews had suffered 
until their agonies became intolerable, and had learned 
therein the lessons of their bitter schooling. All 
things were ready for their deliverance. But on the 
part of the Egyptians, and in order to complete the 
“fullness,” the moral debasement and blasphemous 
assumptions of their oppressors was now such as to 
demand a rebuke from the God of the Hebrews, and 
in the face of their defiance of his divine authority to 
make his power and glory known. 

The mighty warrior and statesman, whose life was 


(38) Every Thursday , Vol. 2, No. II. 


Se 


LGLIPITAN {DOLATAT 97 


now drawing to a close, intoxicated with his power, 
had presumed to lord it not only over the citizens of 
the earth, but over the whole pantheon of heaven as 
well. He had deified himself. The very priests of 
Egypt which heretofore seemed to have governed the 
country, were now governed by their deified sovereign. 
His is the colossal figure that sits repeated again and 
again at the entrance of every temple. He is the 
frontispiece of every gate-way, to whom the gods de- 
livered the sword of destruction with the command to 
“slay.” His image in the interior of the temple is 
brought into the most familiar relations with the high- 
est powers, their equal in form and majesty, sitting 
beside them arm in arm in the recesses of the most 
holy places. The one king who towers above all the 
others in the long succession of Egyptian monarchs 
as the great promoter, as well as the great object of 
idolatry, is Rameses II., the oppressor of the Israelites. 

But as it had been in Chaldzea at the time of Abra- 
ham’s migration, and as it was subsequently in similar 
junctures, this culmination of political power and of 
idolatry was accompanied by excessive immorality. 
The religious rites of the Egyptians were most debas- 
ing in their effects upon the popular character. How 
could it be otherwise with those who adored such 
animals as the crocodile, the beetle, the ape and the 
serpent. Such creatures were regarded as sacred. 
Priests were maintained in their honor, magnificent 
temples built for their reception, grand festivals held 
in their praise, and popular lamentations made at their 
death. ‘To kill one was a capital crime. Long after the 
time of which we are speaking, Clement of Alexandria 


98 THE SCHOOLING OF ISRAEL. 


expressed the feeling of the outside world towards this 
strange religion. He said: 


« The holy places of the temples are hidden by great veils 
of cloth of gold. If you advance towards the interior of 
the building, you see a statue of the god. A priest comes 
to you with a grave air, chanting a hymn, and lifts a corner of 
the gorgeous curtain to show you the divinity. But what do 
you see? Acat, a crocodile, a serpent, or some other dangerous 
animal. The god of the Egyptians appears. It is a beast, 
tumbling about upon a carpet.of purple! ia 

Strabo gives an account of his visit to a certain 
sacred crocodile. He says: 


« Our host took cakes, broiled fish, and a drink prepared with 
honey; and went towards the lake. The brute lay on the 
bank whither the priests went to him. Two of them opened 
its jaws and a third put into its mouth first the cakes, then the 
fish, and finally poured the drink down its throat.” 

In the days of Moses rich people spent immense 
sums on the funeral of a sacred cat. Their household 
had its sacred bird which fed with the family during 
its life, and was carefully embalmed and buried with 
with them after its death.©?” The holiest thing in 
Thebes was the heart of a ram.“* 

It is no wonder that the race which honored such 
divinities sunk into the deepest degradation. If these 
were their gods, what could they believe themselves 
to be? Their king, who had assumed divine prero- 
gatives, treated them as his slaves. If any portion of 
the soil were left to them it was an act of pure grace. 
In fact, there were no “people” in Egypt; but only 
the king, priests and slaves. ‘There was no sympathy 
for the suffering multitudes, and the multitudes, sunk 


(37) Hours with the Bible, Il, 61. 
(38) See Uarda, ch. xxiii. 


EGIPTIAN [DOLATRY. 99 


in their unspeakable misery, sought compensation in 
immorality. The whole race gave the reign to their 
baser passions, for why should a man. be better than 
his gods? Unnatural vice prevailed. Universal and 
open impurity marked their great religious festivals. 
They became beasts themselves. Thus the blasphemy 
of Pharaoh, the iniquity of his people, and the misery 
of the Hebrews together attained their extreme limit; 
and now in this city of Tanis, in which Joseph had 
ruled as regent, and in which Rameses, the deified 
king, defies all gods but himself, the Almighty will 
declare himself. His messenger will soon appear be- 
fore the son of Rameses with the startling demand: 
“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people 


99 
CO 
ey 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


The old Jewish proverb declares: ‘When the tale 
of bricks is doubled, Moses comes.” The proverb con- 
tains a more profound principle than that which is or- 
dinarily found therein. It does not mean merely this: 
that deliverance often arises just when misery is most 
abject. Such, indeed, is not always the case. But 
inasmuch as the “tale of bricks’ was imposed by 
special divine permission and for a special purpose; 
and inasmuch as Moses was God’s own ambassador, 
whose coming was directly connected with the same 
purpose for whose accomplishment the tale of bricks 
was doubled, the proverb teaches that in the provi- 
dence of God the divine intervention in behalf of his 
people and his truth is so timed as to correspond with 
the supreme arrogance of falsehood and the extreme 
insolence of iniquity. ‘This constitutes the ‘fullness 
of time,” not only in that final juncture to which the 
term is ordinarily applied, but also in those less im- 
portant instances which prefigure it and prepare its 
way. 

We have now arrived at the second great illustra- 
tion of the principle, and are prepared to observe the 
method of the divine intervention. ‘The tale of bricks 
has been doubled; Moses is about to appear. 


} 
102 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


THE TRAINING OF MOSES. 


It is not necessary to dwell on those details of the 
life of Moses which are found in the Scripture, as the 
reader is already familiar with them. The course of 
divine providence, however, appears the more remark- 
able when viewed in the light of modern discoveries. 

The Scriptural account of the infancy of Moses is 
confirmed by a romantic story contained in the clay 
tablets of Mesopotamia, whence his ancestry was de- 
rived. It runs thus: 

«J am Sargon, the great king. My mother was of the mas- 
ters of the land; but I never knew my father. I was born 
secretly on the banks of the Euphrates. My mother put me 
in an ark of bullrushes lined with bitumen, and laid me in the 
river which did not enter the ark. It bore me to the dwelling 
of Akki, the water-carrier, and he, in the goodness of his heart, 
lifted me from the water and brought me up as his own son. 


After this he established me as a gardener and Ishtar caused me 
to prosper, and after many years I came to be king.” 


It may be that Jochebed, the mother of the infant 
Moses, had preserved this story among the traditions 
of her father’s house—this Sargon being the king during 
whose reign Abraham left Chalidzea. ‘There has not yet 
been discovered any extended notice of Moses among 
the Egyptian records, though there is an unquestioned 
reference to him in the name of an island in middle 
Egypt which is called Ien-Moshe, the ‘Island of 
Moses.” ‘The place is mentioned in the reign of Ra- 
meses III., about one hundred years after the death of 
the great Rameses. 

The daughter of the king, however, the foster-mother 
of Moses, is mentioned, and her history is tolerably 

Q) Hours with the Bible, I, ot. 


> a 2h hai . ae ee + i) 
s(n ee ; is ae ia. oan rot 
: 7 . Aion . . : ‘ r : 7 che 
sy 7 shia ; Ath f ‘ Ue 
A a 7 = ; 


a Pat he 
i i We 


a ra 
, : 


THE UNIVERSITY OF THEBES. 103 


well known. Rameses had in all sixty sons and fifty- 
nine daughters, of which twenty-three sons and _thir- 
teen daughters were by his wives. The foster-mother 
of Moses was one of the youngest of the latter. Her 
name, according to the monuments, was Meri or Mer- 
ris.) She is called by Josephus Thermuthis.© She 
was probably born at Tanis and was only “a young 


miss,”’ 


as we would say, when she adopted Moses as 
her son. 


RITES Vl Res days Oly bie BES, 


Under the care of Thermuthis the future lawgiver 
of the Hebrews received the best training which it 
was possible for an Egyptian princess to bestow upon 
her son. There can be very little doubt that he re- 
ceived the larger part of his education within the 
walls of a great building whose remains are still 
standing at Thebes. This structure was “The House 
of Seti.” It is now known as the temple of Qurnah 
(or Kourneh). It was founded by Rameses I. soon 
after he had seized upon the Egyptian throne, but was 
carried to completion by his son, Seti I., whose name 
it consequently bore. It was the center of a group of 
buildings, all connected, which served purposes similar 
to those of a great modern university, except that in 
the House of Seti theology was taught as the central 
and supreme science. Great sums had been expended 
in the establishment of this university, and large rev- 
enues were required for the maintenance of its priest- 
hood and the support of its various branches. Its 
founder designed in it to eclipse the glory of the older 


(2) Brugsch , II, ch. xiv. (3) Antiquities; II, ix. 


104 LHL ADOPTION- OF TSHKALZ. 


institutions at Heliopolis and Memphis, and for a time 
at least it was their successful rival. 

In this university all grades were united. ‘There 
was first an elementary department from which the 
pupils passed by examination to a still higher school. 
In this second grade the pupil chose for himself a mas- 
ter in one of the special branches of learning, by whom 
he was conducted step by step to the completion of his 
course. Every profession was opened to him, and his 
preparation for the vocation of his choice could be here 


obtained. He might become an astronomer, physician, | 
lawyer, or priest; and if he aspired successfully to the | 


highest of all professions and became a “scribe,” his 
fame and fortune were secured. Henceforth he would 
be supported at royal expense, and thus be free to 
prosecute his studies without care, for the glory of 
Egypt and its gods. 

Rameses the Great was educated in this university, 
its chief patron being his own father. We can there- 
fore scarcely imagine anything else than that his 
daughter’s adopted son should be sent to the same 
school of which he was himself a graduate. More- 
ever, if Moses was trained “in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians,” his education must have proceeded under 
the best of care and have extended to many branches 
represented in the university. It is no disparagement 
to the special revelation which he received from God 
in the Holy Mount to believe that the intellectual 
foundation upon which it was superimposed was laid 
in Moses’ youth while he was in attendance upon the 
schools of the House of Seti. Indeed we are taught 
to see herein the special direction of divine provi- 


al 


THE UNIVERSITY OF THEBES. 105 


* dence that Moses, being “a goodly child” to begin 
with, should have been adopted by such a woman as 
Thermuthis and by her sent to the greatest university 
of the world. 

In this university, Moses would have studied the 
principles of law, medicine, architecture, engineering 
and theology. Tradition says that he also took a spe- 
cial course in music at Heliopolis. In some branches 
of science, to be sure, the knowledge of his teachers 
seems crude compared withthe attainments of scholars 
of our own day. 

But the actual proficiency of the professors in the 
House of Seti is not emphasized in this connection, but 
only their relative accomplishments. They were the 
wisest teachers of the age, and Moses sat at their feet. 
Indeed it is only in the single department of medicine 
that their science appears ridiculous; yet even in this 
department both their theory and practice were far 
from contemptible. 

They had given careful attention to every separate 
organ of the body, except the heart, from the study of 
which they were restrained by religious scruples. An- 

-atomy had been carefully studied for centuries before 
Moses saw the light; and, when he entered the House 
of Seti, it formed only a single branch of a very com- 
plex system. 

The medical faculty was divided between surgeons, 
dentists, oculists and other specialists, each giving ex- 
clusive attention to his own department. Hygiene in 
particular, which is ever the larger and more import- 
ant section of medicine, was taught with the most ex- 
tensive and intelligent knowledge of its laws. 


106 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


But whatever may be said with regard to the medi- 
cine of the Egyptians, certainly no reflection can be 
cast upon their knowledge of such arts as engineering 
and architecture. In all such branches they were ex- 
perts, nor have they ever been surpassed. 

Under such teachers, then, Moses received his edu- 
cation and discipline; and even after the completion of 
his course he had the opportunity to prosecute his 
studies stili farther in-the great consulting libraries of 
his day. The library of the Ramesseum at Thebes,” 
over the gate of which were inscribed the words, “For 
the healing of the soul,” contained twenty thousand 
volumes, some of these being rolls one hundred feet in 
length! It was built, as we have already indicated, by 
the father of the patroness of Moses. This library is 
often mentioned in Egyptian records; two of its libra- 
rians were sufficiently celebrated to be accorded a 
pompous burial, and their tombs are still to be seen at 
Thebes. But this was not the only library in Egypt 
in the time of Moses. Others are mentioned upon the 
monuments, which he must have had the privilege of 
consulting. In fact the temples all contained libraries, 
many of them including valuable collections. 

It appears, then, that the same discrimination which 
was exercised in the calling of Abraham, and in the 


designation of other great agents of the Almighty, was | 


displayed in the selection of Moses as the leader of the 
Hebrew people. When he came to age he was the 
choicest young man of his day, and_every way fitted 
to become the leader of the people of God out of the 


(4) See Uarda, ch. ii, and Homiletic Review , Vol. XIX, Nos. I and 3. 
(5) A plan of the building is found in Brugsch, I, xiv. 


—- 


THE UNIVERSITY OF THEBES. 107 


house of Egyptian bondage. He had inherited the 
Jewish faith to which was united an Egyptian training. 
He had been invested with Egyptian honors. In his 
address before the council Stephen remarks that Moses 
was not only “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians,” but that he was also “ mighty in words and in 
deeds.” Josephus claims that he conducted a suc- 
cessful campaign against the Ethiopians, in which he 
overcame peculiar obstacles and superior numbers by 
a series of ingenious strategems.™ According to the 
Jewish tradition he was even designated as the succes- 
sor of the Egyptian high-priest, in which capacity he 
would have exercised an influence second only to that 
of the king, and in many respects superior to his. 

By such means, therefore, Moses knew not only his 
own people, the Hebrews, but he knew their oppres- 
sors as well, from the king on the throne to the priests 
in their temples, and to the very laborers in the field. 
He knew luxury and misery equally well. His sym- 
pathy with his own people had taught him much con- 
cerning the sufferings which he had never himself en- 
dured, while he was intimately acquainted with the 
ruling house and the royal priesthood, understanding 
their principles and their policy. 


iP CHOLESOR MOSES: 


But, ‘It came to pass when Moses was grown that 
he went out unto his brethren and looked on their bur- 
dens.” It is not possible for us to put into words the 
full force of Scripture with regard to the decision 


(6) Acts, vii: 22. (SE xv ilsrT. 
(“) Antiquities; II, Io. 


108 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


which was then effected—the anxiety of his parents 
and relations who had watched his course from in- 
fancy; the hopes that centered in him; the doubt as to 
his course of procedure when he arrived at manhood, 


and the issue of it all. Who could prophecy in ad- | 


vance that when Moses came to years he would “ re- 


fuse'to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter?” ” 


We know how we are affected in our own age by 
circumstances somewhat similar. The period of youth 
is like the early days of spring. There is little evi- 
dence of life in the trees and flowers and grass about 
us, and we are unconscious of the silent forces that are 
at work in root and branch and bud, all tending unto 
and waiting for their magnificent unfolding. But some 
day—it seems as though it all took place in an hour— 
a mighty change is apparent and nature gives one glo- 
rious “leap from April into June.”” The wind changes 
to the south, the clouds roll up mass upon mass, the 
echoing thunders sound the trumpet call of the victori- 
ous forces of the summer season, and the warm rain 
falls like heavenly mercies on the waiting earth. When 
the clouds break away again it is bright and balmy; 
the grass is green, the buds have broken, the birds are 
singing, the whole face of nature is changed, and we 
exclaim, ‘Summer has come at last.’”? So with the 
boy when he ‘‘comes to years;” just so silently and 
yet so surely the mysterious forces work to what seems 
to be a sudden transformation, and some day the anx- 
ious mother, whose solicitous eye has only now dis- 
cerned the mighty change, says to her husband: ‘‘Hus- 
band, our boy has become a man.”’ It seems to have 


(9) Heb., xi: 24. 


a 


THE CHOICE OF MOSES. mere) 


been accomplished in a moment, but what a moment! 
How interesting, how eventful! What influences date 
from that supreme point in life; what plans, purposes, 
ambitions, conclusions. It represents the high divide 
of the whole continent of life from which the water- 
shed of its every current is determined, the streams 
that flow this way or that toward the two eternities— 
the eternity of blessing or of woe. 

‘‘ By faith Moses, when he came to years”—it was. 
the crisis of his life. We can imagine him awaking 
one morning in the palace of his king, with the ques- 
tion, which had been before so vague and shapeless, 
confronting him in clear and vast proportions: ‘“ He- 
brew or Egyptian, which?” and he must answer now. 
By faith did he answer. He refused to be called the 
son of Pharaoh’s daughter. By and by he determined 
to go out unto his brethren. He went; he looked upon 
their burdens; he saw a task-master strike a brother 
Hebrew; he heard the swash of the descending lash; 
he saw the blood spurt from the quivering flesh; he 
heard the stifled groan, as the slave sank down in 
agony upon the sand. 

His answer took still clearer form. His mind ex- 
panded to its true dimensions in that awful moment. 
He cast one swift glance this way and that; took one 
swift step forward; dealt one swift but ponderous blow 
and the persecuting Egyptian fell before the persecuted 
slave, at the hand of the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 
We do not justify the act, but only the decision which. 
it illustrated. It was the making of Moses. Though 
ne was full forty years of age, not till then did he 


on PY: Pia Se: 
a rk es : pale hows “ * 
6 wm. MY ie : . 
oe &: i. mh 4 * 


IIO THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


come to his majority; but now his life is irrevocably 
determined. He, too, is a Hebrew. 


MOSES IN MIDIAN: HIS COMMISSION. 


In the providence of God this strange circumstance 
was permitted, in order to prepare Moses for another 
period of discipline, as essential to his work as that 
which had preceded it. He must now pass a certain 
period in retirement, and he flees to Midian. Forty 
years more are spent by him in exile. During these 
years he learned the ways of the wilderness, as he had 
previously learned the ways of the great metropolis. 
The mountain paths and fastnesses of the desert 
through which he was to lead the people of God, be- 
came as familiar to him as the streets of the royal city 
of Tanis. He made the acquaintance of the tribes 
who occupied its scattered oases. Ebers—and doubt- 
less very justly—makes him to have been intimately 
acquainted even with the slaves who toiled in the 
mines of the Emerald Hathor, in the very neighbor- 
hood wherein he kept the flock of Jethro, the Midian- 
ite, his father-in-law.“ 

But the particular lesson which he was here to learn 
was his true relation not so much to the Hebrew people 
as to their God. Moses was the first monk, and Midian 
was the first monastery. But it was not designed that 
the monk should remain in the monastery except for 
so long a period as should be necessary to develop the 
spiritual man, that by his long unmolested meditation 
in the desert he might receive such a training as 
should fit him to be of service to others. 


(10) Varda, xxxiv. 


i nile a i tls 


MOSES IN MIDIAN; HIS COMMISSION. TTT 


When this period of training drew to a close the 
Almighty appeared to him and gave him his commis- 
sion. His doubts were removed, his confidence was 
established, he was assured of the special power and 
protection of Jehovah, and sent back to the land from 
which he had fled forty years ago with this demand 
upon his lips: ‘‘ Let my people go.” 

So Moses returned to Egypt prepared for his work. 
He had been drilled in private under the eye of his _ 
Almighty teacher. He was to perform no mere 
experiments. The first demand of the king was to 
be met upon the instant. ‘Show a miracle for you,” 
and he was to cast the same rod before the king which 
he had previously cast on the ground at the command 
of God on the slopes of Horeb, to be again trans- 
formed before the eye of the astonished king. God 
had related to him specifically the various tasks which 
were to be performed, and even rehearsed him in some 
of the signs which were to be performed in connection 
with them, and had then given him this injunction: | 
“When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that 
thou do all those wonders before Pharach which I 
have put in thine hand.” ¢ 


CONDITION OF EGYPTIAN AFFAIRS. 


The state of Egypt upon his return was providen- 
tially adapted to the purpose of his mission. Mineptah 
IJ., the son of the great Rameses, sat upon the throne. 
Fe was one of the younger members of the great fam- 
ily—the fourteenth son. A strange fatality seems to 
have attended the house of Rameses, due in part at 


(il) Ex, iv: 21. 


% 


112 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


least to the incestuous character of his marriages; and 
it so befell that his heirs died one after another until 
the scepter of the great warrior passed into hands alito- 
gether incompetent to wield it. History would have 
been very differently written had Rameses’ own choice 
succeeded to the throne. His son Khamus held the first 
place in his father’s confidence and affection. He was 
early nominated by his father to the high-priesthood of 
Ptah at Memphis, and is immortalized in his own works, 
as in other monumental records, as a learned and pious 
prince. Even though he had never abandoned the 
priesthood and personally ascended the throne, yet had 
he lived to counsel his younger brother he might have 
succeeded in preserving the integrity of the empire. 
But Khamus died twelve years before his father, 
and when Rameses passed away he left no worthy 
successor among his remaining children.“ Mineptah 
was soon dispossessed of the better part of his king- 
dom. The descendants of the Hyksos succeeded in 
‘turning the tables upon the native Egyptians, wasted 
the cities of the Delta with fire and sword, plundered 
its temples, and destroyed the images of its gods. 
Mineptah was unable to stay the tide, and retreated 
with his followers to the south, where he spent twelve 
years in exile. At last, however, his son Mineptah 
III., Seti II., came to his majority, and was associated 
with his father in the government. This young man 
very early displayed the warlike qualities of his 
grandfather, and when he was only eighteen years of 
age began a series of campaigns which were soon 


(12) Brugsch, Vol. II, ch. xiv. 


goer 


THE BONDAGE AND THE EXODUS. 


PROBABLE HARMONY 


OF 


THE BIBLE AND THE MONUMENTS. 


2 A ET Seti I. 


™'Rameses Il. 


Arranged for the Marginal Chronology. 


h Il. 


Minep % ta 


’'78. Succeeds. Lu 
ep) 


'73. Battle of O Kadesh. 


F = 
2 ?71 Moses born. 
e 
= 
x 
°50. Treaty with the Hittites. 
LU 
~ o) 31, Flight of Moses. Ex. Il: #5. 
z q 
o Q 
ie Zz 
Fi O MOSES IN MIDIAN. 
mM 
= ’11, Death of Rameses. Ex. Il: 23, 
E 
= 


’05. Rebellion. 


{ Egyptian Court in Exile. 
'93. Return. BITTER BONDAGE. 
91. EXODUS. ex. x!: 5; xi: 29. 


II4 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


ended in the re-conquest of his father’s lost territory. 
This was two years before the return of Moses. * 
The restoration of Mineptah and of his greater son to 
power was, however, the re-enslavement of the Israel- 
ites, and from this event must be dated those severer 
sorrows which provoked the groans of the people of 
God and called for his divine intervention. ‘These last 
two years may be regarded as the period of their 
special afHiction, compared to which the years which 
went before are scarcely to be considered. The Scrip- 
ture itself indicates that the bitter bondage began 
with the king who came to the throne while Moses 
was in Midian. We read: “And it came to pass in 
process of time that the king of Egypt died, and the 


children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage.” 


This king was Rameses; his death occurring twenty 
years after the flight of Moses.“® Then came his son 
Mineptah. But, as we have seen, for twelve years 


out of the twenty during which he ruled he was a> 
fugitive. Mineptah had, therefore, been upon the , 


ancient throne of his fathers but two short years when 
Moses appeared to confront him. 

The returning Hebrew was his own reputed brother, 
who had been afterwards discovered to be himself one 
of the serfs. He had disappeared during the preced- 
ing reign, and no tidings had been received concerning 
him for forty years. But here he is back in Egypt 
again, and in the presence of her king, uttering his 
stern demand: “ Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 
let my people go.” 


(13) Exodus ii: 23. 
(14) See Chart, p. (3. 


> 


LHE NATURE OF THE CONFLICT. I15 


At this point in our studies the exact nature of the 
conflict which we are now approaching should be dis- 
tinctly understood. This is the more important, since 
in each succeeding illustration of the “fullness of time”? 
substantially the same elements appear; and in the 
final juncture (as we shall see when we come to con- 
sider it) appear in the most emphatic form. 

The nature of the conflict was foreshadowed in the 
words of the Lord himself when, commissioning Moses 
in Midian, he directed him to say to Pharaoh: “Israel 
is my son, even my first-born; and I say unto thee, let 
my son go, that he may serve me; and if thou refuse 
to let him go, behold I will slay thy son, even thy first- 
born.” Apart from the premonition of judgement 
contained in this warning there is a particular mean- 
ing connected with it which must be clearly appre- 
hended, or its special significance will escape the 
reader. 

Although Jehovah was the Only Living and True 
God, he had never had a people of his own in the 
earth. The nations were devoted each respectively to 
their particular gods. Ishtar had her people in the 
country from which Abraham, the father of the faith- 
ful, had emigrated; and in later times Bel? Baa laixaim: 
mon and Dagon had their peculiar people devoted to 
their service. Jehovah is the God of the whole earth, 
and insists upon being so regarded, yet will he also 
have his peculiar people, chosen by himself, to main- 
tain his worship and perpetuate his truth. The time 
has arrived when this peculiar people shall be formally 
designated. God is now about to publicly recognize 


Roux 122, 23, 


I16 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


them as his own, and to declare in such a way as that it 


shall be known not only in Egypt, but throughout the | 


earth, that the Hebrews have received from him the 
“adoption of sons.” Be it remembered that they had 
not before been known as such. They themselves 
had never aspired to such a distinguished title. They 
understood at least, in a measure, the nature of the 
“Everlasting Covenant” made with Abraham, their 
father, and believed themselves to be the chosen people 
of God. But sons/ this was a relation to the Almighty 


of which they had never dreamed. It was not, there- | 


fore, their conception, nor that of Moses, their leader, 
but the conception of God only. When he commis- 
sioned Moses in Midian he vouchsafed to him a new 
revelation, by right of which Israel was to enjoy signal 
promotion—he would confer upon his covenant people 
the divine adoption. 

Heretofore the Hebrews had been in no condition to 
receive or improve this privilege. The uniform course 
of the divine tuition is indicated by Paul in his epistle 
to the Galatians:“® “The heir, as long as he is a child, 
differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of 
all; but is under tutors and governors, until the time 
appointed of the father.” This principle, though ap- 
plied by the apostle to the tuition of the Law for the 
freedom of the Gospel, yet receives complete illustra- 
tion in the history of Israel at the period upon which 
we are engaged. Israel was ‘‘under tutors and gov- 


ernors ”’ 


in Egypt. 
But “the time appointed of the father” has now 
arrived, redemption from bondage is at hand, and the 


(16) Gal. iv:I. 


LIL -ANATURE OF THE CONFLICT, I17 


‘adoption of sons” will be formally constituted. This, 
then, is what Jehovah means when he instructs Moses 
to say to Pharaoh: ‘Israel is my son, even my first- 
Born.” 

Upon the other hand the deification of the kings of 
Egypt, while it was displayed in a number of forms, 
yet assumed one form in particular. Rameses the 
Great, who was the first Egyptian sovereign to dis- 
tinctly assume the honors and titles of divinity, while 
he claimed to exercise divine prerogatives as the repre- 
sentative of a whole pantheon of divinities, yet assumed 
as his chief title “The Son of Ra.” Ra was the prin- 
cipal divinity of Egypt. The sun was his embodiment 
and symbol. Mineptah II., succeeding to the throne 
of Rameses, succeeded also to his divine honors. He 
also represented himself to be the son of Ra, and the 
vice-gerent of the god upon earth. When, therefore, 
Moses appeared before Mineptah with this challenge 
and warning upon his lips it was equivalent to his say- 
ing to the king that the Israelites, whom that king 
was oppressing, and who now appeared before him in 
the person of their leader, stood in the same relation 
to their God, Jehovah, as that which Mineptah claimed 
to sustain to his god, the supreme divinity of Egypt. 
We might, therefore, call the conflict just now to be 
inaugurated a grand duel, except that the word im- 
plies a struggle between two parties who are approxi- 
mately equal. In every other respect, however, it was 
to be a duel. Jehovah, represented by Moses, chal- 
lenged the divinities of Egypt represented by Mineptah. 
Mineptah had been engaged in such persecution of 
the people of Israel, Jehovah’s first-born, as threatened 


IIS THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


their extermination, and now Jehovah distinctly warned 
him that if extreme measures must be resorted to, 
then the first-born of Ra should himself be sacri- 
ficed in order to the redemption of his own. This is 
the probable meaning of the second clause of the sen- 
tence which Jehovah put into the mouth of Moses: 
“Tf thou refuse to let him go, behold i will slay thy 
son, even thy first-born.”’ 

We are now prepared to understand the nature of 
the conflict. Jehovah will first proceed against the 
lesser divinities of Egypt—if perhaps the heart of Pha- 
raoh may be softened, and he be persuaded to let the 
Israelites go. The judgment of the Almighty will 
therefore be directed at the beginning against the 
sacred river and against the god from whom it was 
supposed to proceed. Following this, against those 
divinities of the Egyptians which were represented by 
their insect idols. Following this in turn, against their 
sacred cattle, of which the gods were supposed to have 
taken possession. Following this, against those greater 
gods that presided over the elements. And finally, if 
Pharaoh still insists upon hardening his heart and de- 


fying Jehovah, against Ra himself, the supreme divin-” 


ity. It will be shown that Ra has no power to give 
light to the proud oppressors of the Lord’s people, and 
awful darkness shall fall upon the land. If even this 
is not sufficient to teach the unrelenting king the in- 
finite superiority of the Living God, the final judg- 
ment shall be visited upon the very son of Ra himself, 
and the first-born of the king, who is also esteemed 
the son of Ra, shall be sacrificed. 

It would seem that the Israelites from the very first 


nee 


THE COURSE OF THE CONFLICT. IIg 


understood the nature of the conflict. Even though 
this distinct apprehension of the situation may have 
been confined at first to the leaders of the people, yet 
subsequently, under the instruction of the prophets, 
the entire people of God were made to understand it. 
Long after the Exodus, Isaiah described the situation, 
when, speaking in the name of Jehovah and endeavor- 
ing to awaken his recreant people to some sense of 
their obligations, he recalls the destruction of the 
Egyptian first-born in order that the Lord’s first-born 
might be redeemed from their bondage, saying: “I 
gave Egypt for thy ransom.” Hosea also refers to 
their adoption in words which are at once both history 
and prophecy: ‘ When Israel was a child, then I loved 
him, and called my son out of Egypt.’ 


Pie Ui Het wit te CONBLICT, 


Events proceeded therefore according to the word 
of the Lord. Moses appeared before the king. Min- 
eptah demanded a miracle in confirmation of his claims. 
The miracle was furnished. Thereupon the king called 
for his magicians and commanded them to show a sim- 
ilar miracle, in order that the claims of Moses might 
be set aside. 

These magicians bear in Scripture the Hebrew name 
khartummzem, which, in spite of its Hebrew complex: 
ion, is derived from an Egyptian word, khartot. Ra- 
meses II., as already shown, had erected temples in 
honor of a circle of divinities called “the gods of Ra- 
meses.” ‘The king caused himself to be thereby hon- 
ored with a religious worship, and the texts of the 


Pe Toe xiii 23. (18) Hosea xi: I. 


Tao THE ADOPTION OF ISKAEL. 


later age make mention of the “ god-king Rameses, 
surnamed the Very Valiant.” The services of these 
temples were conducted by certain priests who bore 
each the name of kAar-tot, that is, ‘the warrior.” 
The origin of the appellation, which seems strange 
when applied to persons apparently so peaceful, is ex- 
plained by the character of the Egyptian myths con- 
cerning the warrior divinities of the cities of Rameses. 


The Apostle Paul has given us the names of two of | 


these magicians, Jannes and Jambres.™ The arts 
which they practiced were inherent in the ancient 
Egyptian religion. Its ritual consisted of a system of 
incantations with the object of securing future happi- 
ness for the disembodied soul. These incantations did 
not absolutely insure this happiness, but it could not 
be secured without them. Great secrecy was main- 
tained by the priests in the practice of this system. It 
was upheld by a gorgeous ritual and taught in a mul- 
titude of books to which, doubtless, Moses himself had 
once had access. It is not necessary for us to describe 
the system in detail. 

The power of the magicians was, however, soon ex- 
hausted, and there followed a series of miracles, pro- 
ceeding in systematic order from the less severe to the 
more severe, and culminating in the death of the first- 
born. ‘The first series of plagues (blood, frogs, lice, 
flies) occasioned only inconvenience. The second se- 
ries (murrain of beasts and boils of men) produced 
general sickness. The third series (hail, locusts, dark- 
ness ), widespread destruction. Then followed the tenth 
plague of death. 


(19) Brugsch, II, p. 384. (20) 2 Tim. i1i:8. 


| 


THL-COURSE) OF THE CONFLICT: To 1 


The king’s manner during the progress of these 
plagues is exceedingly suggestive. His manner is 
marked by a certain sullenness. But as the plagues 
become more severe in character he endeavors by 
partial promises, which he did not intend to keep, to 
divert Moses from his purpose. Observing his vacil- 
lation, and remembering the inherent weakness of his 
character, we can scarcely resist the conclusion that his 
is a case of “the power behind the throne.” Minep- 
tah acts like a puppet. Where is the hand that pulls 
the strings? His promises and retractions are in every 
way similar to those of later kings whose very con- 
sciences were kept by some cardinal or prime minis- 
ter, or other person better calculated to rule than the 
monarch himself. Who can help recalling in this con- 
nection the case of Charles IX., his mother Catherine 
de Medici, the protestants of France, and St. Bartholo- 
mew? Who was the Catherine in this instance? Who 
could it have been but that imperious, stalwart son of 
Mineptah, his co-regent, by whose very power he sits 
upon his throne? The Scripture refers to the influence 
of Pharaoh’s “‘servants.’’? Is there not some reference 
also to his chief servant, his own son? If it be so, we 
shall find terrible significance in the result of the tenth ‘ 
plague, in which that son himself was sacrificed. 

At last, however, the time came when all reconcilia- 
tion was seen to be impossible. ‘The Lord hardened 
Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go.” And 
Pharaoh said unto Moses: ‘Get thee from me; take 
heed to thyself; see my face no more, for in that day 
thou seest my face thou shalt die.” And Moses said: 
‘Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face no more.” 


122 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


This incident is dramatic in the extreme. Pharaoh 
is at last brought to bay. He has offered every con- 
cession he can make—still keeping hold upon his re- 
bellious servants; but they have all been declined. At 
last he is forced to grant permission to the Israelites 
to go, but upon condition that they go empty-handed, 
leaving their flocks and herds behind. Moses answers 
that they cannot sacrifice without sacrifices, and that 
they cannot live without food. ‘Our cattle also shall 
go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind.” 
And then it seems for the first time to have dawned 
upon the dull mind of this miserable monarch that 
what the Israelites were planning was not a mere holi- 
day excursion, but an absolute exodus. They intended 
to emigrate; they expected to go out to return no more. 
He was roused to a sense of the situation. He rea- 
soned just as others have reasoned in like circum- 
stances. If this was their expectation, they must be 
disappointed. He had already made them a liberal 
offer. If it is not accepted they shall have nothing 
whatsoever. The king understands the condition of 
the case at last. He perceives that the demand of 
Moses is unconditional; so also shall his answer be. 
Moses asks to be allowed to depart with the men, with 
the women and with the little children, with the sheep 
and with the oxen; in short, with all the belongings of 
his people. ‘‘ No,” says the king. This is his answer, 
sharp, plain, final. ‘“ No! not only will I not grant 
this request, but I will not grant any. I retract all 
that I have said. I will not even listen to you again. 
Get thee from me; take heed to thyself; see my face 
no more, for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt 


LHE COURSE OF THE GONFLICT. 123 


die.” And Moses, with that massive dignity which 
characterizes him throughout the entire story, answers: 
‘Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no 
more.” ‘That was the end of it. Pharaoh himself had 
shut the door to all further consideration of the case, 
with Moses, the Israelites and the Lord God himself 
upon its outside. 

The king kept his word. He had no chance to 
break it, because Moses kept his word as he had prom- 
ised, and the two never met again. Pharaoh, indeed, 
rose up in the night of the last plague and called for 
Moses and Aaron and bade them begone with all 
their people; but it appears upon reading the passage 
attentively that the message must have been sent to 
Moses at the hand of some official, as the account in- 
dicates very plainly that Moses lost no time in a visit 
to the palace of the king. | 

A few more days remained, the calm before the 
hurricane. Moses was gone, Aaron was silent, God 
was waiting. Then came that awful night when all 
the first-born died, “from the first-born of Pharaoh 
that sat upon his throne even unto the first-born of the 
maid-servant that was behind the mill.” Mineptah 
Seti himself, in the flower of his youth, as the Egyp- 
tian monuments show—the young warrior, his father’s 
associate, the hope of the royal house, perished, and 
with him perished the power of the old Egyptian mon- 
archy. ‘The obscurity in the prophecy quoted in the 
last paragraph has been recently cleared. It has been 
very plainly shown that the words, “that sdteth upon 
his throne,” refer not to Pharaoh, but to this son 
who shared his sovereignty. The untimely end of 


124 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


Mineptah III. is narrated in a number of epitaphs and 
funeral dirges found in different localities, and there is 
no more pathetic language to be found in all the 


Egyptian records.” 
DELIVERANCE. 


The period between the ninth and tenth plague was 
passed by the Israelites in preparation for their jour- 
ney. Definite instructions were given to them by 
Moses which were obeyed to the letter, and all things 
were ready for the greatest event save one in their 
history. The days passed slowly by. There was pro- 
found quiet in the splendid city of Tanis, for the He- 
brew question which had so troubled the monarch and 
his court was at last settled. Settled as the king re- 
garded it, and as he supposed Moses regarded it. No 
word had come from the adjoining province of Goshen, 
and the affairs of the great empire seemed to move on 
as they had done before the disturbance. 

How many days passed we cannot determine, but 
sufficient to convey to all the Israelites throughout 
Goshen and the adjoining sections over which they 
had spread, instructions with regard to the Passover 
and the movements of the Israelites which should fol- 
low it. 

The appointed night arrived. The blood of the 
lamb was sprinkled upon the door-posts; his flesh was 
eaten; the meal was just over; it was midnight. Sud- 
denly the word was given. The Angel of Death had 
done his work; they must arise and be off at once, 
losing not a moment by the way. And the mighty 


(21) See article by Prof. Paine, Century Magazine, Sept., 1889. 


DELIVERANCE. 125 


multitude started just as they were, all their worldly 
possessions, even to their unleavened dough, done up 
in bundles and thrown over their shoulders, out into 
the night and off into freedom! 

Silently they moved through the gtreets of the 
stricken capital, whose people, powerless in their sud- 
den sorrow, did not disturb them, but rather urged 
them to be off, and loaded them with presents to 
hasten their departure. Straight towards the east 
rolled the mighty multitude, like a great torrent, swel- 
ling, as it flowed, with the streams which poured into 
it by the way. The moon was in the zenith, its clear, 
full face shining down upon them through, the cloud- 
less Egyptian sky and lighting them upon their jour- 
ney. They trod with firm and elastic step, for there 
was not a single feeble person in all their tribes.) 
Their flocks and herds moved with them, but there 
was no interruption, not a single spear was pointed at 
them, not a single challenge delayed them, and as God 
himself had prophesied with minute particularity, not 
so much as a single dog came forth to “move his 
tongue against them” or snap his teeth at the heels of 
their yearling lambs. Egypt was busy with its dead. 
_ Man and beast alike were occupied with their grief. 
‘““God had made a way for his anger,” and the “ pesti- 
lence’ had made a swath for the highway of his 
people. The words which were not to be spoken un- 
til long afterwards by the prophet Isaiah received their 


most significant illustration: ‘The day of vengeance 
is in mine heart and the year of my redeemed is 
Sonic.) 


(22) Ps, cv: 37. (23) Ps, Ixxvili: 50. (24) Is, lxili: 4. 


126 THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. 


EFFECT UPON (EGYES 


Egypt did not recover from this catastrophe for two 
generations. Mineptah HI., Seti IL, by whose prow- 
ess his father had regained his lost territory, was dead. 
Pharaoh had lost his strong right arm. The power of 
the monarch was broken. ‘The Exodus was but the 
beginning of the old man’s troubles. His subjects re- 
belled against him, allies revolted, a near relative ac- 
complished a division: of the empire and reigned as 
anti-king; and in the multitude of sorrows which ac- 
cumulated upon his devoted head, its gray hairs were 
brought down in sorrow to the grave. His grandson, 
a son of Mineptah Seti, reigned over a dismembered 
kingdom, and not until the accession of his great- 
grandson, Rameses HI., was Egypt again restored to 
its place of political power and glory. 

Thus sixty-six years passed away. Meanwhile the | 
people of God had passed safely through the wilder- 
ness, crossed the Jordan, conquered the land of Canaan, 
partitioned it among the tribes, and were peacefully en- 


iovine their possessions. 
joying Pp 
EFFECT UPON ISRAEL. 


The Exodus was the birth of the Hebrew nation, 
and they ever looked back upon that first Passover 
night as the initial point in their political history. 
They went down into Egypt little better than no- 
mads. They had been accustomed to moving about 
from place to place with their tents and their cattle, 
and so long as the patriarchs remained in Canaan they 


(%) Brugsch , il, xiv. 


: 
Ned 
A 
: 
. 
fe 


EFFECT UPON ISRAEL. 127 


were expressly forbidden to erect any permanent dwel- 
lings. They emerged from Egypt a nation of agricul- 
turists and with a very considerable acquisition of cul- 
ture. The rude shepherds had been trained bv teach- 
ers of the foremost nation of the world, and that in its 
most brilliant period. They carried away with them 
a very considerable acquaintance with its arts and lit- 
erature. We find them immediately after the Exodus 
engaged in certain pursuits which they never practiced 
in patriarchal times. They could execute delicate work ° 
in gold and silver, in wood and stone. They were 
skilled in weaving, embroidering and dyeing. They 
knew how to cut, set and engrave precious stones. 
The Egyptian bondage gave to Israel such men as 
Joshua, the great soldier; Phineas, the great diplomat; 
Bezaleel and Aholiab, skilled artificers in wood, stone 
and the textile fabrics; and, above all, Moses, the great- 
est jurist of the ages. These names, however, stand 
but at the head of the list. There were many beside 
them skilled in the same arts, though occupying in- 
ferior positions. These accomplishments fitted the 
Hebrews to take possession of the land of Canaan and 
to colonize it as permanent settlers, with a high degree 
of civilization and a settled government. 

But the Almighty had other lessons still in reserve. 
They must pass from the final grade of the Egyptian 
school to a more advanced grade than that which it 
was possible for the Pharaohs to conduct. The Ex- 
odus, therefore, is not the end of the course, but only 
that of its preparatory department. We follow them 
therefore into the Wilderness. 


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SHADE Rae 
THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


The Israelites were now graduated from the school 
of Egypt, but their training was not complete. In- 
deed, its most important elements were yet to be re- 
ceived. ‘They were by no means ready to take 
possession of the promised land and enter upon their 
peculiar mission. The lessons which they had learned 
in Egypt were for the most part of a very general 
character, and would have fitted them only for a gen- 
erai influence such as that which Egypt herself exer- 
cised in the work of civilization. The people of God 
must be taught certain special lessons fitting them to 
wield a special influence upon all mankind when the 
time should arrive in the providence of God for its 
exercise. We may then compare the advance in the 
tuition which they were now to receive to that which 
occurs in the training of a young man when he passes 
from college to the professional school. His college 
course has fitted him only for life in general. His 
professional training shall fit him for the particular 
avocation which he is to pursue. So Israel was not 
led at once into their promised inheritance, but was 
turned aside for a time into the wilderness. The im- 
mediate reason for this digression was given by the 
Lord himself in a passage in which we are told that 
‘When Pharaoh had let the people go, God led them not 


130 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that 
was near, for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent 
when they see war and they return to Egypt.” 

It is true that immediately upon their exodus , 
they were altogether unprepared to encounter a | 
well-disciplined enemy; but that there were other 
and deeper reasons than the immediate one is ap- 
parent to those who read their history. ‘They were 
to receive in the wilderness not only a military train- # 
ing, but a training of the most profound character, 
both political and moral. 


THE WILDERNESS. 


In the forty years during which the Israelites so- 
journed in the wilderness, indeed, we might say in the 
first three years of this period, all those elements by 
which they were distinguished from other nations as a 


peculiar people were acquired. This period, therefore, ~ 


has a special bearing upon their entire history. ‘They 
were at the outset converted, or rather reconverted to 
the faith of Jehovah, and thence progressed in the 
knowledge of that faith with special reference to the 
peculiar part which they were to play in preparing the 
world for the Redeemer. Their life during all of this 
time had its faults and its shortcomings, and as we read 
the account of their journeyings we are often amazed 
at their dullness, unbelief and ingratitude; but when 
we remember the condition of serfdom out of which 
they had but just emerged, and during which they had 
received no systematic instruction in the things of God, 
and then compare it with their condition upon their 


(1) Exodus xili: 17. 


“us oa 


THE WILDERNESS, Lesa 


entrance to Canaan, our amazement is of an altogether 
different kind, and we wonder at the marvelous pro- 
gress which they had made. 

If we except only the elements of that primitive 
faith which they had received as a heritage from the 
patriarchs, their entire political, social, ecclesiastical, 
and spiritual equipment was given them during their 
first few years in the wilderness. The Scripture is full 
of references to this important period, and the “ Law” 
then given, is ever set over against the “ Gospel” as 
representing that dispensation which was prepara- 
tive to the full knowledge of salvation. As the 
Apostle Paul says, ‘‘ The law was our schoolmaster to 
bring us to Christ ;” so also was the wilderness the 
great and special school in which they were trained to 
receive the law. 

The scene of this special instruction was well chosen 
by divine providence. They disappeared for a season 
from the view of the Gentile world. They were set 
apart for instruction under the immediate tuition of 
their God. Their teaching was no longer to be ac- 
complished by intermediate agencies, but by the Great 
Teacher himself. Therefore they are separated from 
all their former associations in order that they may no 
longer be contaminated by idolatrous surroundings, 
nor misled by false philosophies. They are removed 
from men that they may have close communion with 
God. The world shall scarcely obtain a glimpse of 
them until they emerge from the desert to lay hold of 
their ancestral land; but then shall they appear, not as 
the nation that forsook Egypt, but, as it were, a new 
creation. 


132 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


a 


There is scarcely a section upon the earth so well 

suited to the reception of special divine revelation as 
the wilderness of Sinai. It presents a very marked 
contrast to the lands of the Delta from which the 
Israelites had come. Instead of broad and fertile 
plains with their network of innumerable canals; in- 
stead of the fields of waving grain, and the rivers 
abounding with fish; there were rocky heights, bold 
precipices, deep gorges, and a landscape which was at 
all times unutterably wild and bleak. The deep 
silence of the desert was seldom broken, and its vast 
solitudes invited them to the consideration of those 
subjects in which they were now to be instructed. 
_ Before they had left Egypt, as we remember, they 
were made aware of a very peculiar mission upon 
which they were about to enter, and for which they 
had been already brought into close relations with the 
God of their fathers. The adoption of Israe] had been | 
accomplished, as we have seen in the preceding chap- 
ter, but its particular terms had not as yet been de- 
fined. They were only informed through the revela- 
tion of God to Moses that Israel was his first-born, 
and were thus directed to a certain position in which 
they should be installed, and a certain portion in store for 
them, great, peculiar and far-reaching. In the wilder- 
ness into which they were now to be led that portion 
is to be distinctly described, its responsibilities and its 
purposes unfolded. 


PRELIMINARY. DISCIPLINE. 


Before the Lord shall enter upon the special training 
which they were to receive, he must prepare them for 


we 


PRELIMINARY DISCIPLINE, L323 


its reception by a course of preliminary discipline by 
means of which they shall be brought into affectionate 
and confidential relations to himself. They must be 
taught that Jehovah is specially concerned in their be- 
half, and that they are altogether dependent upon his 
power and mercy. ‘They had already received some 
instruction in these fundamental matters. It must have 
deeply impressed their minds that during the sufferings 
of the Egyptians, in consequence of the plagues that 
were visited upon them, they were themselves exempt. 
They could not have failed to notice that when the time 
came for them to leave Egypt, so minute had been the 
Lord’s kind care of them that there was not one feeble 
person in all their tribes. Before they crossed the Red 
Sea they were made aware of the special presence of 
their divine leader in that pillar of cloud and fire ® 
which was at once their guiding beacon and their wall 
of defense. The appearance of this pillar doubtless 
affected them in a way which does not occur to us who 
are not familiar with oriental customs. The armies of 
the eastern kings when upon the march were ac- 
customed to follow signals of fire and smoke which 
were displayed in their advance. Military leaders were 
accustomed to burn torches upon tall poles to give a 
signal for departure. The vast pilgrim caravans of 
the Mohamedans are still guided ina similar way, and 
there is an ancient Egyptian inscription which compares 
a victorious general to a flame streaming in advance of 
his army. ‘The same figure of speech is also repeated 
in an old papyrus. When, therefore, the Israelites be- 
held the pillar of cloud, or of fire, as the case might be, 
(2) Exodus xiii: 21. (3) Hours with the Bible, Vol. II, p. 180. 


134 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


in advance of them, they received notice that their d1- 
vine Leader had taken command of their hosts, and 
that they might rely upon his guiding presence. The 
educational value of this single circumstance can 
scarcely be overestimated. 

The divine concern was still further emphasized in 
the great miracle which occurred at the passage of the 
Red Sea. This wonderful interference in their behalf 
was celebrated in the song of Moses and that of Miriam 
and her companions, . and was frequently recalled in 
similar terms during the long generations that suc- 
ceeded. 

The preparation for the special revelation ana dis- 
cipline which they were soon to receive was continued 
in the divine provision for their simplest needs. They 
received their bread and meat at the hand of God, and 
when they were thirsty the rock smitten at his com- 
mand yielded them its refreshing waters. It may here 
be borne in mind that whereas subsequently they were 
rebuked and punished for their murmurings, the com- 
plaints which they offered in the first weeks of their 
wanderings were overlooked by their considerate God. 

Still further the culmination of their preliminary 
preparation for special tuition was received when 
Amalek fell upon their rear and, without provocation, 
attempted to annihilate them. Their deliverance was 
effected by the immediate interposition of their God. 
But the particular advance in method appears in this; 
that whereas their enemies had been discomfited 
heretofore without any effort of their own, as when all 
the first-born of Egypt were slain by the destroying 


(4) Exodus xv. (5) Exodus xvii: 8-16. Compare Deut. xxv: 17-I9. 


—— 


ome 


PRELIMINARY DISCIPLINE. 135 


angel, or as when the returning waters of the Red Sea 
covered the horsemen and chariots of Pharaoh; now, 
upon the contrary, the people themselves became the 
agents of their God, having been taught sufficient con- 
fidence in themselves to be entrusted with a share of 
what had before been the Lord’s exclusive work. But 
their cntire dependence upon their divine Leader is 
still emphasized. Moses must hold the wonder-working 
rod toward heaven, and if his arms become weary and 
fall, Amalek is victorious. 

These circumstances, therefore, conveyed to them 
an invaluable lesson which they had not before learned 
—the necessity both of their own exertion and of the 
gracious assistance of their God. They had learned 
that the government of the Almighty, represented by 
Moses, was not a mere invention like that of the idols 
of Egypt. His actual power had been displayed in con- 
trast with the imaginary power of the deities of the 
people by whom they had been enslaved. He had 
manifested his presence among them in the fiery pillar, 
and by his signal interpositions in their behalf. No king 
could have so cared for them, led them and protected 
them, and they were now prepared to believe that 
henceforth this care was to be extended to all the 
affairs of their national life under certain conditions 
which the Lord himself would proclaim. So in the 
third month of their wanderings they are brought to 
Sinai. 

SRE GIANT eDISGLE LINE, 

They are now to receive that special revelation 
whereby the terms of their adoption shall be made fully 
known. Here they shall remain eleven months, con- 


Os 


MOUNT: OF 


“MAK 


. 
5 


BJ 
») 


HORE! 


SLECIAL DISCIPLINE: 137 


stantly occupied with divine things. It was a long 
period. God had occasionally spoken to men before; 
but never before nor after—until the Son of God ap- 
peared in the flesh, was he for so long a time engaged 
with men, without interruption. 

We must bear in mind that the preparation of their 
leader, as well as of themselves, had been long since 
begun. More than forty years before, Moses had been 
led by the hand of God into this same section, and here 
he had spent thus far the half of his life. He was 
familiar with the locality, and he had also been 
impressed with its peculiar sacredness. If it is ever 
important that the leader of a people in a great enter- 
prise, and at a great crisis, should be profoundly con- 
vinced of its momentous nature we may well observe 
that the condition had been fully met in the present 
instance. On the mountain which Moses was now to 
ascend he had once turned aside to see the bush that 
burned with fire while it was not consumed. He had 
been instructed to put off his shoes from off his feet in 
recognition of the holiness of the ground which he was 
treading, and out of the midst of the burning bush he 
had heard the voice proclaiming the Almighty God by 
his covenant name, [| AM THAT I AM. So now 
this same Moses, upon his arrival at the Mount of God, 
is summoned to its utmost height to receive the most 
important revelation which had been made to man 
since the days of the patriarchs. It was in these words: 
“ Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the chil- 
dren of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, 


and how I bear you on eagle’s wings, and brought you unto 
myself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and 


I 38 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me 
above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be 
unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are 
the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” © 


We will here observe that the Lord made special 
reference to that preliminary preparation for this revel- 
ation which we have considered. He had borne his 
people upon his wings as the eagle bears her young, 
and in this display of his goodness they were encour- 
aged to enter into covenant with him. The relation 
which had been foreshadowed in the words of adoption 
which he had used in Egypt was now to be definitely 
constituted, and that by a most solemn agreement 
binding upon both parties. Jehovah was to be to them 
a father and a king. They were to be at once his sub- 
jects and his sons, and they were further to be invested 
as a nation with the office of a holy priesthood. Herein 
is contained the first decided intimation of their pecu- 
liar mission to the world in the preparation of divine 
providence for the coming of the Redeemer. The 
nation was to bea family, a priesthood and a kingdom. 
As a family they were to typify the whole race which 
was one day to be taught the fatherhood of God 
‘through an adoption of which their own was the shadow 
and symbol. Asa priesthood they were to become the 
mediators between God and the remainder of the race 
to whom he was not known. As a kingdom they were 
to rule upon earth in the high domain of truth and 
love. Themselves the sons of God, they were to bring ~ 
in the universal sonship of the race. Themselves re- 
deemed of God, they were to mediate the redemption 


(6) Exodus xix: 3-6. 


SPECIAL DISCIPLINE. 139 


of others. Themselves the citizens of the heavenly 
King, they were to subdue the earth to his paternal 
sceptre. All of this is included in the concise language 
which the Almighty employed, and which he instructed 
Moses to repeat to the people of Israel; and this is all 
definite preparation for the coming of the Only Son, the 
Great High Priest, the Prince of Peace.” 

Before anything further could be done, however, it 
must be known whether the people accepted these re- 
lations and would be loyal to them. So Moses returned 
from the mount, called for the elders of the people and 
laid before them the words which the Lord had com- 
manded him. The words received a very joyful ac- 
ceptance. The conditions of the divine covenant were 
enthusiastically adopted. The people with one voice 
pledged themselves to do all that Jehovah had proposed. 
“All the people answered together and said, All that 
the Lord hath spoken we will do.” ® Thereupon Moses 
returned to the mountain and reported their acceptance 
to the Almighty, and the Lord declared that he would 
now come unto him in a thick cloud, that the people 
might hear when he spake with him and believe him 
forever. 

The government which was thus instituted is uni- 
formly called by Bible students a “'Theocracy.” This 
word is the invention of Josephus, who in his tract against 
Apion notices a contrast between the customs and laws 
of the Jews and those which obtained among other 
People. « blesays: 

“Some legislators have permitted their governments to be 


under monarchies, others put them under oligarchies, and 


(7) See Bible History, Edersheim, II: 109. (8) Exodus xix: 8. 


140 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL, 


others under a republican form; but our legislator had no re- 
gard to any of these forms, but he ordained our government to 
be what, by a strained expression, may be termed a theocracy, by 
ascribing authority and power to God, and by persuading all the 
people to have a regard to him as the author of all the good 
things enjoyed either in common by all mankind or by each one 
in particular, and of all that they themselves obtained by pray- 
ing to him in their greatest difficulties.” ©) 

Josephus’s word has been adopted by scholars as the 
one which upon the whole is best descriptive of the 
peculiar institutions ofthe Jews. The Almighty him- 
self described his people as ‘“ His house,” “” and the 
term is adopted by subsequent sacred writers. The 
Almighty was the head of the house, standing in much 
the same relation to it as that held by the chief and 
father of a clan, and exercising absolute sovereignty. 


THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT. 


Three solemn days elapsed between this definition 
of the Lord’s relation to his people and the further 
elaboration of the Covenant. The days were occupied 
with the most impressive services. The people sanctified 
themselves in the use of certain important ceremonies. 
Meanwhile bounds were set about the mountain where 
the glory of the Lord appeared, and they were strictly 
instructed not to approach it upon the pain of death. 
Finally, upon the long blast of the trumpet, upon which 
the peaple trembled greatly, Moses brought the people 
out of the camp toward the mount, and as the voice 
of the trumpet increased, Moses spake and God an- 
swered. Thereupon Moses ascended the mountain for 
the third time. The third time he was instructed to 


(9) Contra Apion, II: 17. (10) Numbers xii: 7. 


tit O OK OLE TiS COVENANT: I4I 


go down to the people and again to charge them not 
to approach the mountain or attempt to penetrate the 
cloud in which he was enswathed. So Moses descended 
and the fourth time returned again. All this was 
intended to impress the people with the most profound 
sense of the power and majesty of their invisible God. 
And now Moses having again ascended the mountain, 
“God spake all these words” and the Ten Command- 
ments were given. 

The impression satis upon the people by the 
display of God’s power in connection with the giving of 
the law was such that they entreated that God would 
thereafter speak to them through his servant Moses 
and not directly as he had done in giving them the law. 
This request was granted. Although Moses took 
particular pains to instruct the people that they had 
no good reason for their fears; that the object of the 
awful phenomena was not to excite in them any slavish 
apprehension of consequences, but that reverential awe 
which would induce them to obey God with the utmost 
care, and avoid the things which were displeasing to 
him; nevertheless the people withdrew from the 
mountain while Moses ascended into the thick darkness 
of God’s immediate presence. He there received cer. 
tain ordinances which were intended as subordinate 
laws, explaining at length the obligations imposed by 
the Ten Commandments. Without entering into their 
details, we may observe that they were preceded by 
an indication of the manner in which the worship of 
God was to be conducted. Next in order followed 
‘the judgments,” determining the civil and social 
position of the Israelites with relation to each other, and 


142 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


finally thei: religious position as related to the Lord 
himself. These judgments begin by defining the per- 
sonal rights of individuals in the lowest condition of 
life, male and female slaves, continuing with certain 
requirements concerning the protection of life, the 
safety of property, personal purity, and the avoidance 
of all idolatrous practices. The religious festivals are 
then announced, the whole concluding with certain 
promises which were to be fulfilled on condition of 
obedience. 

First and chief, the assurance was given to them of 
the constant presence of their God in that ANGEL, of 
whom Jehovah declared “My name is in himt”” pails 
was no mere angel, but the manifestation of the very 
presence of the Lord, the ‘express image of his person,” 
the “Face” of Jehovah. In him the Redeemer for 
whose sake Israel had been called and trained was 
personally anticipated, and with the promise of his 
guiding presence this portion of the special revelation 
of God to his people is brought to a close. 

The whole was written in a book called ‘‘ The Book 
of the Covenant,” “» which was now submitted for adop- 
tion. The people were called together early in the 
morning. An altar was built under the mountain 
upon which burnt offerings were sacrificed. The blood 
of the sacrifices was put into basins, half of which 
was sprinkled upon the altar. Moses then read to the 
people the words of the Book of the Covenant, and 
they answered “ All that the Lord hath said will we 
do and will be obedient.”” The remaining blood was 
then sprinkled upon the people, and Moses said to them 


(11) Exodus xxiv. 


oe a 


THE MORAL LAW AND THE CEREMONIAL. 143 


“Behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord 
hath made with you concerning all these words.” Its 
solemn ratification was thus accomplished in keeping 
with the awful phenomena of its proclamation, and 
Israel became the Lord’s forever. 


THE MORAL LAW AND THE CEREMONIAL. 


The legislation thus far enacted was a comprehen- 
sive unity; but alone it was not sufficient for the full 
furnishing of that people whose particular mission was 
the preparation of the world for its Redeemer. It was 
to serve a mighty purpose; but it is doubtful whether 
it would have served any purpose whatsoever had it 
remained alone. It was therefore immediately fol- | 
lowed by additional legislation of different but comple- 
mentary character. 

These two bodies of law—each complete in itself, 
but absolutely interdependent, are known as the Moral 
Law and the Ceremonial Law. The Moral Law is 
comprehended in the Ten Commandments, illustrated 
and expanded in the statutes that follow them, the 
whole comprising the “ Book of the Covenant.” The 
Ceremonial Law embraces the larger part of the 
remaining portion of Mosaic legislation relating, as its 
name implies, to ceremony and ritual. The Moral 
Law contained no direct reference to the coming 
Redeemer. The Ceremonial Law contained scarcely 
anything else. Allusions to him in the course of the 
Moral Law and its attendant statutes are infrequent 
and incidental, while the allusions to him in the course 
of the Ceremonial Law are constant and essential. It 


144 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


is of great consequence therefore that the student 
comprehend the relations between the two. 

The Covenant having been ratified the Lord would 
now proceed to those particular revelations in which 
the peculiar mission of Israel should emphatically 
appear. Moses was again called up into the mount. 
For six days he was prevented from ascending to its 
utmost peak by the transcendent glory which covered 
it; but on the seventh he was summoned into the pres- 
ence of God. He remained there forty days and forty 
nights receiving the additional revelation. 


This revelation covered three important matters, ; 
the tabernacle, the priesthood and the celebration of © 


religious services. Every feature of all these pointed 
to the coming Redeemer and were intended to be the 
means of preparing his way. ‘These features we are 
forbidden to examine by the limits of our book, but 
the student of providential history can not afford to 
neglect them. ‘They signified in general, that access 
to God and fellowship with him had been forfeited 
through sin, and could only be restored through the 
mediation of a great and holy High-priest, offering an 
acceptable sacrifice. 

The structure and furniture of the tabernacle; the 
consecration and vestments of the priests; the sacrifi- 
ces and incense of their services—the whole culminat- 
ing in the impressive ceremonies of the annual Day of 
Atonement, all served to set forth in one great sym- 
bolic system the central truth and crowning purpose 
of the organization and discipline of the covenant 
people. 

The relation between the two bodies of law— 


FINAL LESSONS, 145 


the moral and the ceremonial then appears. The 
Moral Law was given as the divine standard. It was 
not intended thereby to promote obedience; but to 
reveal the iniquity of the disobedient. ‘ By the law is 
the knowledge of sin.” Its distinct purpose was to 
show Israel, and through Israel all mankind, their need 
of a Saviour. This having been accomplished, the 
Ceremonial Law is added to prefigure him. Mean- 
while and until he appears, the righteousness which 
could not be secured through the Moral Law—because 
sinners could not keep it, is secured through the sacri- 
fices of the Ceremonial Law, not because of any virtue 
in them, but by virtue of his atoning work whom they 
so clearly typified. 

The more the relations of these two bodies of law 
are studied, the more wonderful will they appear. In 
all the generations that have passed since Moses as- 
cended the Mount of God, no one has been able to 
suggest an improvement upon the form or language 
of the Ten Commandments; and as the church increases 
in the knowledge of Christ, the marvellous accuracy 
with which his priestly work was prefigured in the 
Mosaic ritual grows upon her adoring mind. Sin and 
the Saviour were thus completely set forth, fifteen cen- 
turies before the Redeemer appeared in the two great 
complementary codes of the Law of Moses. 


FINAL LESSONS. 


The object of the wilderness was served in the giv- 
ing of the law; but the entire period was disciplinary. 
The closing period was especially rich in instruction 
apart from the burden of their training. 


146 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


Insubordination was more than once followed by 
swift and summary judgment. Obedience was more 
than once rewarded by the most merciful tokens of the 
divine favor. The evils of undelief were set forth in 
terms so striking that they ought never to have been 
forgotten, and more particularly towards the close of 
their wanderings the relations of sn and grace were 
defined, and the goodness of God towards those who 
had no claims upon his favor were emphasized. The 
awful plague which followed upon the rebellion of | 
Korah “2 was stayed by means which reflected as does 
no other circumstance in the whole Old Testament, 
the mediation of the coming Redeemer. ‘The incense 
kindled upon the coals of the altar of burnt offering, 
typified his accepted intercession, and when Aaron at 
the direction of Moses took the censer and ran into 
the midst of the congregation and stood between the 
living and the dead, the exercise of the typical priest- 
hood of Christ was beautifully and wonderfully 
foreshadowed. 

The erection of the brazen serpent “* also, set be- 
fore the people of God for all time the desperate nature 
of sin, and the character of that Substitute who was 
made sin for us, though he knew no sin, and his own 
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. 

Thus after a season of special instruction during 
which all those who had been originally serfs in the 
land of Egypt, but who for lack of proper discipline 
had exhibited the most vacillating spirit, had passed 
away, their children came to the borders of the 
land which they were to enter, fully equipped for their 


(12) Numbers xvi. (138) Numbers xxi. 


DEATH OF MOSES. 147 


peculiar mission. Let us remember, as Edersheim 
beautifully remarks, that “It was not to them as to us 
a land of ruins and of memories, but of beauty and 
of hope. To a generation who had all their lives seen 
and known nothing but the wilderness, the richness, 
fertility and varied beauty of Palestine as it then was, 
must have possessed charms such as we scarcely can 
imagine.”“* From the plateau of the mountains of 
Abarim they obtained their first view of their Prom- 
ised Land. ‘Their goal was at last in view, and after 
a few short campaigns, in which they were victorious, 
their camps were pitched on the other side of Jordan 
with only its narrow stream dividing them from their 
‘possession. ‘The scholars were now ready to become 


teachers. Their course of instruction was completed. 


DEAE eViOs ho, 

And now—the more deeply to impress their minds 
with the significance of the period through which they 
had passed, and of that upon which they were about 
to enter, their great leader calls them together to give 
them his final charge. 


Their teachers had been changed several times in ~ 


their history as they passed from grade to grade. The 
Hyksos had been succeeded by the Pharaohs, the Pha- 
raohs by Moses, and now Moses himself, greatest of all, 
announces his own departure. That must have been a 
most solemn and impressive convention which the 
mighty law-giver conducted in the plains of Moab! 
He rehearses at length the whole story of his life and 
leadership. He repeats again the words of the cove- 
(14) Bible History, 11: 1096. 


148 THE DISCIPLINING OF ISRAEL. 


nant, recalls the statutes of the law, reminds his peo- 
ple of their sins, their ingratitude, their unbelief, and 
the Lord’s merciful compassion; he sings his last great 
song; blesses his people, tribe by tribe; appoints his 
successor, and gives him solemn charge, and then, fol- 
lowing the beck of the Almighty finger, repairs to the 
solitudes of the wilderness alone to die. He has ful- 
filled his mission. The promised land is in sight. 
They are ready for its occupancy. Farewell 
From the summit of Pisgah he takes one long, wist- 
ful survey of the land of his fathers, and then sur 
renders his soul to his God. The mystery of his death 
we shall never be able to penetrate. Jewish tradition 
regarding literally the text in Deuteronomy xxxiv: 5: 
“So Moses died * * * at the mouth of the Lord,” 
has it that he died “by the kiss of the Lord.”“ 
But however it may have been, it was high honor— 
the fitting closé to that wonderful life. 
« The hand of God 


Upturned the sod, 
And laid the dead man there.” 


EEF EC TS. 


If now, in closing our chapter, we contrast the ap- 
pearance of the Israelites with that which they pre- 
sented at the Exodus forty years before, we may gain 
in a single survey, some idea of all that had been 
accomplished. Regard them as they cross the river 
under Joshua and lay siege to the city of Jericho. 
What splendid order, what unity of action, what irre-’ 
sistible enthusiasm !_ Their organization was well-nigh 


(15)Edersheim; &2d/e History, III: 45. 


EFFECTS. 149 


perfect. Their military establishment was arranged 
with a precision never yet excelled even under the 
great generals of more modern times. In addition to 
this they were in possession of a body of law carefully 
written and arranged, whereby the rights of the hum- 
blest citizen were secured; and, to crown all, they had 
been the subjects of a divine revelation, minute and 
particular, infinitely surpassing all that any nation had 
ever received, by which their religious life was ordered 
and governed, with a view at once to the responsibility, 
instruction and consolation of every individual soul, 
and with reference not alone to their sojourn in the 
land of Canaan as the mere citizens of a sequestered 
country, but with reference to prospects which 
stretched far into the future, compassed the whole 
earth, embraced the salvation of all mankind and the 
glory of God throughout eternity. All this had been 
accomplished through the schooling which they had 
received while they were in the House of Bondage, 
and the subsequent discipline to which they were sub- 
jected in that ‘“ great and terrible wilderness.” 


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JP a00, JefOvID, CON i osnll. 


The people of Israel now enter upon their distinct 
mission. But first they must win back by their own 
faith and valor the land which God had given them, 
and in which their peculiar calling is to be fulfilled. 

Providence, however, had prepared the way before 
them in a very wonderful way, which does not appear 
tp the ordinary student of the Bible and may be wholly 
learned only by reference to secular history. The 
Egyptian monarchy, as we have observed in a fore- 
going chapter, had so declined in power and was so 
rent by internal factions that it could no longer molest 
them; while the condition of the promised land rendered 
its subjugation a comparatively easy task. 

We speak of the conquest of Canaan as though it 
were altogether the work of Joshua; but without de- 
tracting from his fame it may be observed that the 
conquest began half a century before, in the exten- 
sion of the power of the Egyptian monarchy. The 
great empire of the Hittites, which formerly extend- 
ed over the greater part of Canaan had been shat- 
tered by the campaigns of Rameses the Great; the 
Israelites encountered only its fragments.” The con- 
quest of the land became therefore a comparatively 
easy task, for instead of confronting a great united 


(1) The Bible and Modern Descoveries ; Harper, p. 179. 


152 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


power, the Hebrew warriors met only small and sepa- 
rated tribes, which, though they combined at times 
against the invaders, were lacking in unity of action.” 

Conquest completed, the Israelites had before them 
a protracted period of nine hundred years in which to 
enjoy their possession in comparative quiet, without 
being disturbed by the nations round about them. 
Their preservation is accomplished during this long 
epoch by the mutual hostility of the empire of Egypt 
upon the one hand and that of Assyria upon the other; 
each being too much occupied with its own affairs 
and the encroachment of the other to be especially 
concerned with the affairs of a comparatively insig- 
nificant nation. The very Egyptians themselves— 
though naturally incensed at the Israelites and nursing 
a grudge against them, were yet disposed to treat 
them upon the whole with favor, in order that their 
little commonwealth might serve as a breakwater 
between their own coast and the surging tides of the 
Semitic nations on the east. 

In the seclusion which they are thus permitted to 
enjoy they shall have the opportunity to bring to full 
development those hopes and principles with which 
they are subsequently to enrich the world. In the 
meantime, also, the nations which are about them are 
left to themselves in order that they may carry 
to its conclusion every effort upon their own part to 
effect their own regeneration. 

It is necessary at this point to clearly apprehend the 
nature of the Hebrew mission, that we may have it 
in mind when we pass to the succeeding chapters. 

(6) The Empire of the Hittites ; Wright, pp. 92, 112. 


LHE PRIMITIVE HOPE. 1$3 


The religion of revelation in whatever age we may 
consider it, is distinguished from all other religions by 
this one great characteristic feature, HOPE. It always 
affords a striking contrast to heathenism, in that while 
heathenism invariably places its golden age in the 
past, and looks back upon a time when men were wise 
and happy; revelation continually contemplates a goal 
in the future, and looks forward to the time when all 
mankind shall become enlightened and blessed. Atl 
that was embraced in the religious life of the Hebrew 
people may therefore be comprised in that single 
expression which we frequently encounter in the 
Seiipiurcese, ihe tope ot Israel.” 


iP Ve RIM EeHOrIs, 


This hope had been communicated to the people of 
God long before they were limited to Israel. It did 
not originate with the Hebrews. It was once the com- 
mon heritage of the race; it was revived after a long 
period of apparent extinction, and the chosen people 
became thenceforth its custodians. 

This hope of Israel in its original form was con- 
tained inthe first promise given of God to the mother 
of the race after the fall of man. Indeed, even before 
it was announced to her, there was an intimation of its 
announcement. The race was created holy. In our 
present fallen condition we are not able to form a full 
and complete idea of that intercourse which the race 
originally enjoyed with God; but we are not entirely 
unable to apprehend its nature. We know that it was 
free, familiar and unrestricted, though profoundly rev- 
erential. After the fall which interrupted this inter- 
course, we read that God again drew near to man, and 


154 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


although man fled from him as from an avenger, yet 
nevertheless there was something in the very sound of 
his footsteps which indicated that he approached not 
so much for the purpose of punishing the offender as 
for the purpose of bringing back the lost. As De- 
litzsch beautifully remarks, ‘‘ His audible steps after the 
fall are his first steps toward the goal of the revela- 
tion in the flesh.” It is an indication of signal 
mercy upon the part of the offended God that before 
the curse is pronounced upon man and upon the very 
ground which is cursed for his sake, the hope of final 
restoration is given. The promise is in these words 
spoken to the deceiving serpent: 


“J will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be- | 


tween thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou 
shalt bruise his heel.” (4) 


This promise is more wonderfully comprehensive in 
its character than the ordinary reader of the Bible im- 
agines. The peculiar order of salvation through the 
incarnation is here distinctly foreshadowed.  ‘‘ The 
promise like a sphinx,” to quote Delitzsch again, 
‘crouches at the entrance of sacred history.” Its 
solution does not begin to dawn until history has un- 
folded itself, and it is never completely given until He 
comes in whom alone its meaning could have been ful- 
filled. The word ‘seed’ which is here employed 
(Hebrew Zera), is never used except of the male, and 
to use it as it is here, of the female, is altogether un- 
usual. The promise thereby becomes unique. ‘There 
is nothing like it anywhere in Scripture or in other 


(8) Messtanic Prophecies , Delitzsch, §2. (4) Genesis ili: 15. 
(5) Delitzsch. § 4. 


THE PRIMITIVE HOPE. I$s 


literature. So many hundred years before the coming 
of the Saviour, he is called, strange to say, the Seed of 
the woman. The expression is never again employed, 
so far as I can find, except in the single instance of the 
outburst of the joy of Eve upon the birth of the son 
Pac aehen aiistea dof savbelws sod,” saide she,“ hath 
appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom 
Cain slew.” 

This promise became the most precious element in 
all the traditions which were handed down from father 
to son during those long ages that elapsed between 
Seth and Noah. There is abundant evidence of the 
fact that it was often recalled, and that in the wicked- 
ness of the antediluvian world the light of the blessed 
hope was not extinguished. Eve confidently expected 
deliverance to come through her own son. In the 
death of Abel that expectation was blighted; but in 
the birth of Seth it revived again and hence her joy- 
ful exclamation. Enos, the son of Seth became the 
head of a religious society founded upon the promise. 
With him ‘men began to call on the name of the 
Lord,” (Hebrew ‘“Jehovah,”)™” the language thus 
plainly indicating by its use of the covenant name 
DimsGod, a) reference to they primitive hope. The 
translation of Enoch midway in the dreary period 
which succeeded, plainly foreshadowed the triumph 
of the great coming Deliverer who should crush 
the head of that cruel serpent whose awful work 
of deception had brought death into the world. Lamech, 
distinctly recalls the original promise when he calls his 
son just born “Hope” (or Comfort) saying “ This 


(6) Genesis iv: 25. (7) Genesis iv: 26. 


I 56 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of 
our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath 
cursed.”’® He was not altogether disappointed; for 
his son Hope (Noah) was an important factor in the 
line of promise, though not its crowning fulfillment. 
Yet to Noah it appears that God has not forgotten his 
word, nor forsaken the sinful race—even though he is 
drawing near to judgment; for to Noah the promise is 
substantially renewed, and the preservation of the 
family of the patriarch is another distinct installment 
in its fulfillment. The human race was thus con- 
tinued for the sake of that seed through whom 
the great deliverance was to come. Immediately 
after the deluge a covenant was made with Noah, 
in which he was assured of the future stability of . 
the earth and the uniformity of the seasons, and 
his son Shem was designated as the one through 
whom the original promise was to find its ultimate 
fulfillment. After this a long interval occurs during 
which, as we have already seen, the world lapsed again 
into heathenism. Still, the great hope was not per- 
mitted to become obliterated, and it makes its appear- 
ance again in the person of one specially called and 
set apart as its custodian. 


THE PATRIARCHAL HOPE; 


When Abram was summoned from Chaldea and 
directed to leave his home and kindred for a land which 
God should show him, the Almighty had special refer- 
‘ence to the further development of that hope which 
had received no increment since the days of Shem. 


(S) Genesis v: 29. See margin. 


THE PATRIARCHAL HOPE. 157 


After a certain period of training the Lord enters 
into a solemn covenant with Abram, which is known 
henceforth throughout all Scripture as the Everlasting 
Covenant. It was never to be set aside. The Church 
of God throughout all time is founded upon it. ‘The 
Mosaic dispensation itself was but an episode in its 
development. 

As the call of Abram begins a new era in history, 
and as such marks a distinct epoch in the preparation 
of the world for the Redeemer, it opens with a de- 
cided enlargement of the primitive hope. The cov- 
enant with Abram established a special relationship 
between himself and his descendants and God; and 
also between his descendants and mankind, and assigned 
to him and to his descendants for the purpose of these 
relationships that chosen land which was to be the 
center of blessed radiating influences. In the prelimi- 
nary elements of the training which Abram received 
in order that he might be the second party to this 
covenant, we note particularly his segregation from 
the rest of mankind, his childlessness and the many 
years that were suffered to pass over him until he be- 
came an old man with no hope of posterity—ali these 
in order that the features of the covenant and the hope 
which it contained might be the more distinctly em- 
phasized. 

The special features of that covenant were as fol- 
lows: The name of the patriarch was changed from 
Abram to Abraham as a pledge of the promise that 
he should be father of many nations. The word 
‘A bram”’ means ‘exalted father.”” The word ‘Abra- 


(9) See Messianic Prophecy, Briggs, 84. 


158 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


ham” the ‘father of a multitude.” Inasmuch as the 
name bestowed by God cannot be a mere empty word, 
but the expression of something real and valuable, this 
change of Abram’s name gave to him a pledge of the 
fulfillment of the divine covenant. We observe also 
that the name of his wife was changed at the same 
time for similar reasons. 

The second special feature of the covenant is found 
in the rite of circumcision which was associated with 
it. This ceremony had direct reference to the seed of 
Abraham, through whom the promised blessing was 
to come. It also indicates the fact that in his seed were 
to be included not only the descendants of his body, but 
all those who adopted his faith and thereby became 
parties to the covenant, inasmuch as the sign of the 
covenant was not confined to his immediate family, but 
extended to all the inmates of his house and afterwards 
to any strangers who desired to be included among the 
people of God. | 

The third, ‘and in some respects the most important 
feature of the covenant, was the divine oath with 
which it was confirmed.?® The author of the Epistle 
to the Hebrews" makes special reference to this oath 
as rendering the covenant doubly obligatory even upon 
God himself, and thus doubly sure to his people. 

But the fourth and last feature of the covenant, 
which invested it with peculiar value, was the divine 
promise which accompanied it: ‘In thy seed shall all 
the nations of the earth be blessed.” This promise was 
repeated three times to Abraham “” and once each to 


(10) Genesis xxil: 16. (11) Hebrews vi: 13. 
(12) Genesis Xi: 3+ xvi5; xxll18. 


PER kesh ms 


LHE PATRIARCHAL HOPE: I59 


Isaac% and to Jacob.2® Although in the days of the 
patriarchs this “seed” was not specialized, and they 
may have supposed that it indicated in general the 
descendants of Abraham, yet it is certain that from the 
first it was intended to have a special reference to One 
alone, who should be in a peculiar and distinctive sense 
the Seed of Abraham. The word in the original is 
singular, and Paul’s use of it is literally legitimate. 
In the singular form it specifically excludes that which 
the plural form would include, and indicates plainly 
that the seed of Abraham which was to be the means 
of blessing was a unity, which (though it may at the 
first have been properly regarded as the entire people 
of Israel), should finally be concentrated in a single 
individual.?® 

Henceforth Abraham’s life has sole reference to the 
covenant and to the hope which vitalized it. He 
watches anxiously for the coming of the promised 
heir, and when he is at last given of God, guards him 
with special care, protects him from injury and insult, 
provides for his marriage and settles his inheritance 
upon him before his own death, removing to a distance 
the other heirs who might have proved troublesome 
claimants. The deep spiritual meaning of the promise 
is also conveyed to Abraham in connection with the 
proposed sacrifice of Isaac by means with which every 
student of the Bible is sufficiently familiar. 

The patriarchal hope was continued to Isaac and 
Jacob as we have indicated. It is borne prominently 
in mind in the blessing bestowed upon Jacob by his 


(13) Genesis xxvi: 4. (14) Genesis xxviil: 14. 
(15) Gal. iii: 16. (16) Delitzsch, §7. 


160 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


father, whereby he is assigned to the lordship of his 
brethren; a curse being pronounced upon those who 
curse him, and a blessing upon those that bless him.%? 
It ig re-echoed in the blessings of the dying Jacob and 
the peculiar prophecy which he utters with regard to 
the scepter of Judah and the characterization of him as 
a young lion,“®) foreshadowing the royal power of him 
who is subsequently described as the Lion of the tribe 
of Judah. 

As yet, however, little else was made known than 
that through Isaac, Jacob and Judah redemptive bless- 
ing should in some way be extended to the world. 
During the entire patriarchal period, while the seed is 
intrinsically the most important element in the promise, 
the land, which was to be the portion of the seed, is 
the more prominent one, and again and again in the 
history of Abraham particular mention is made of the 
land.“® The reason for this will doubtless occur to the 
reader. Within three generations his descendants were 
to be led out of this land into another where they were 
to remain for several centuries, and therefore the 
repetition of that feature of the promise which con- 
nected it with the promised land became necessary in 
order that their minds might be set upon it during the 
entire period of their long and painful exile. And 
such indeed proved to be its effect. Some of the 
Israelites became in a measure attached to the land of 
Egypt where they had sojourned, and when they met 
with peculiar hardships upon their way to Canaan ex- 
pressed the desire to return to it. Nevertheless the 


(17) Genesis xxvii: 29. (18) Genesis xlix: 9, 
(19) Genesis xii: 1-7; xiii: 15; xv: 7and 18. 


Re ey OP we. int 


THE NATIONAL HOPE. IOI 


fact remains that the entire people of Israel gladly for- 
sook Egypt in a body with all of their possessions, 
leaving, as Moses himself expressed it, “not even a 
hoof behind” to indicate that they had once been 
residents of the place or expected at any time to return 
to it. ‘hey broke with Egypt altogether. They left 
therein not a vestige of their sojourn, and, notwith- 
standing their complaints, not one of them, so far as we 
are informed, actually made the effort to go back. The 
explanation is found in this: they had set out for the 
land promised of God unto their fathers; the land 
wherewith their great hope was connected; where the 
seed of Abraham should appear, and outside of which 
the conditions of the promise could not be met nor its 
peculiar privileges enjoyed. 


TSE NAT IONA Ee HOPE- 


After the Exodus the hope of the patriarchal family 
was fully developed into the hope of the nation. The 
Israelites having been taught in the manner which we 
have considered in the foregoing chapters, their adop- 
tion as sons and their special relations to their Father 
and King, were prepared to receive some decided en- 
largement of their great expectation. This enlarge- 
ment came first in the revelation to them of their 
peculiar office-work as a priesthood and a kingdom. 
Herein their knowledge was extended far beyond that 
of the mere fact that they were the chosen seed and 
their country the promised land, as we have already 
observed; they were definitely instructed with regard 
to their mission. In this assurance they journeyed on 
through the wilderness until they came to the borders 


162 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL 


of their promised possession. But before entering upon 


it, the new generation, already thoroughly trained and | 


disciplined and about to enter upon the conquest of the 
land where they were to exercise their peculiar office 
work, should receive a still further and more specific 
addition to that hope which has now become distinct- 
ively The Hope of Israel. 

The record begins with the story of the blessing 
of Balaam, whom Balak brought to curse Israel, 
but who “could not go beyond the word of the 
Lord his God to do less or more.” Through this 
strange personage the Hebrews received the repre- 
sentation of the kingdom of God, as set apart from 
the nations of the world; composed of vast numbers; 
irresistible in power; subduing all nations to its sceptre, 
under the leadership of God its King. They perceive, 
also, by means of Balaam’s vision, one of the most 
beautiful pictures of the future which is anywhere 
presented in prophecy. “I shall see him but not now. 
I shall behold him but not nigh. There shall come a 
Star out of Jacob and a Sceptre shall rise out of 
Israel.”"29 "This may be regarded as the foreshadow- 
ing of the allegiance of the entire heathen world. 

Very soon afterwards Moses himself, in’ his final 
address to the people upon the plains of Moab, uttered 
the most important prophecy, as it was the concluding 
one, of this period. In it the hope of Israel, which 
had heretofore been general, became personal. ‘The 
“seed ” was specialized and limited to an individual. 
Moses says: 


(20) Numb. xxiv: 17. So the Messiah is often afterwards symbolized 
by a star, or indeed called such. 


— 


THE NATIONAL HOPE. 162 


« The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from 
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye 
shall hearken; according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord 
thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me 
not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me 
see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said 
unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like 
unto thee; and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall 
speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall 
come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words 
which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” &) 

They were herein taught that the coming Seed 
should be a great teacher; that he should speak to 
them in God’s name; that he should be an Israelite, 
and that disobedience to his words, or the refusal to 
follow him, would meet with the severest divine con- 
demnation. This second Moses should complete the 
revelation of God, and should become the crown of 
the royal priesthood—the priestly kingdom. 

Let us pause here for a moment that we may sum 
up the contents of those promises which the people of 
God had received up to this point, and apprehend all 
that was included in the hope of Israel at the day 
when they entered into their possessions. It may per- 
haps be an aid to the student to tabulate these con- 
tents, assigning each particular progressive element in 
the advancing hope to the person with whom it is 
connected, as follows: 


pe Leite XVills15, 19. 


THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


BAVC Py tcl ee Ree SEED OF THE WOMAN 
Geéenesisel TP 


SE DH Fe. See ee SEED INSTEAD OF ABEL 
Genesis LV 25; 


ENOS ...MEN CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD 
Genesis IV: 26. 


ENOCH .... TRANSLATION PREFIGURING CONQUEST 
Genesis 22: 
LAMEGH 2 elena eee BirtH oF “Hope” 


Genesis V2; 


NOAH een dee COVENANT RENEWED 
Genesis IX: II. 


SHIM 2 is Berghe ots sae ..*LHE LINE OF BLESSING 
Genesis IX: 26. 
ABRAHAM 3.18 4: eee ace THE SPECIAL SEED 


Genesis XXII: 16. 


FJ ACORYS praseaae, Heda ihe LORDSHIP OF THE SEED 
Genesis XXVII: 20. 
JUDAH Stee tas 5 Weare! ees oe Lion OF THE TRIBE 
Genesis XLIX: 9. 
VEO S12 See eR hor erpe Sega: ROYAL PRIESTHOOD 
Brodus XTX 36. 
BAULAANL tees ee ee THE SCEPTER AND STAR 


Numbers XXIV: 17. 


MOSES} >. een eevee THE DIVINE PROPHET 
Deuteronomy XVIII: 15. 


THE NATIONAL HOPE. 165 


This table will recall at a glance the ground which 
has been traversed. The Hebrews were to enter Ca- 
naan with no meagre, shadowy expectation of some ill 
defined though influential future. On the contrary— 
as the table clearly shows, their expectation had reached 
that stage in which it became both great and specific; 
their hope had assumed vast proportions and distinct 
form; and their spiritual possessions were incompar- 
ably more precious than their temporal ones. 

Still further, we remember that they had now, in 
the books written by Moses, the permanent record of 
the origin and development of their hope. It had not 
only received great additions, but in the history of 
which it was the chief factor, its progression was set 
before them in distinct terms and the relation of its 
separate additions to each other and to other divine 
revelations, was made plainly to appear. Henceforth, 
therefore, it was the central element of a great treas- 
ure with which they had been invested for the benefit 
of the whole race and which, in its broad outlines at 
least, we should here consider. 


Tobe HEBREW INV ESGLTURE, 


Inasmuch as the outlook of the Hebrew was toward 
the future and contemplated a coming age in which 
mankind should be wise, happy and holy, it may be char- 
acterized not only as a religion of hope, but a religion 
with a governing ideal.°? This ideal was unique in 
every particular. None of its essential features were 
borrowed from any earthly source. If in any respect 


(22) See Messtanic Prophecy , Briggs, p. 28. 


166 ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


the ceremonies which were in use among other na- 
tions—Egypt, for example, seem to have been imi- 
tated, it was in their external and accidental features 
only. Their unique ideal was threefold: it related— 

Ist, Zo God. ‘They were taught his unity and per- 
sonality. He was the God of creation, of providence 
and of redemption; most holy, wise and powerful; full 
of all goodness, mercy and truth. In order that they 
might never mistake his nature and attributes, these 
were described in formal written language, together 
with the service which he required. 

2d, Zo man. The unity of the race was revealed 
to them. God was one, so also mankind was one; and 
man had been created in his image. This conception 
differed zoto celo from that of all other nations and 
relieved the Hebrews from those race-prejudices which 
were not only taught, but even emphasized by other 
religions. It was written for their instruction that the 
original holiness of mankind had been lost by sin, and 
with it the original unity of the race; but both were 
to be ultimately restored in the grace of God through 
the instrumentality of the chosen seed in the exercise 
of its royal priesthood. 

3d, Zo redemption—the union of God and man. 
This is implied in the foregoing. It comprises the sub- 
stance of the hope of Israel. They were taught that 
since the fall of man from his holy estate, good and 
evil had been in dire collision. But the conflict should 
not be forever. Some day the good would prevail 
over the evil, holiness be triumphant, and those who 
had accepted the grace of God should enjoy his pres- 
ence forever. 


THE PERIOD OF THE $UDGES. 167 


Such was their ideal, such their hope. It was ex- 
pressed in such promises as those to which we have 
referred. Already they foresaw the coming deliver- 
ance. ‘hey knew that it would be affected through 
that central personage about whom all their revela- 
tions were now made to revolve. He was to appear 
in the land which had been selected for them for hés 
sake, and through one of their own families chosen Zo 
provide for him an ancestry. Moses, through whom 
they had been redeemed from Egypt, was only a type 
of the Prophet like unto himself, and their first passover 
only a dim and shadowy forecast of the second. 

This was already a most marvelous investiture and 
distinguished them from all other nations by incom- 
parable privileges and responsibilities; yet they had 
but entered upon their national existence, and their 
mission was only well begun. Their investiture was 
to be indefinitely extended in the centuries which were 
before them. 

The history which now succeeds is divided into 
three periods.“» rst, the period of the Judges— 
from Moses to Samuel. Second, the period of the 
united kingdom of Israel—from Samuel to Solomon. 
Third, the period of division and decline—from Solo. 
mon to the close of the Old Testament. 


rei LOD Obes Li Hs |W DGES. 


The first period comprises about three hundred 
years—a little more than one-third of the entire inde- 
pendence of the Hebrew nation previous to the Baby- 
lonian captivity. During this period there is no 


(23) See Bampton Lectures for 1866; Liddon, p. 78. 


, 
168 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


definite enlargement of the hope of Israel, and 
scarcely any reference thereto which appears im the 
sacred record. There are certain indications that the 
hope was kept alive; that it was neither forgotten, nor 
failed to exercise an influence upon the life of the peo- 
ple. But their condition was such, occupied as they 
were in making a place for themselves among the na- 
tions of the earth; redeeming the land, expelling its 
heathen inhabitants, and securing for themselves a 
permanent dwelling-place, that their activities were 
largely consumed in the affairs of secular life. We 
ought not to be surprised at this, when we remember 
the beginnings of national life and institutions in con- 
nection with all the other great races of the world. 
We have in the book of Judges, with its companion- 
book of Ruth, an exact picture of that condition which 
obtains in the early life of every civilized people; ex- 
cept that in the case of Israel an authentic record takes 
the place of what in other nations are mere legendary 
stories. Following this record it is not difficult for us 
to transport ourselves into those very times. We per- 
ceive that the first occupation of the people was a 
struggle for national existence. The possessors of the 
country had been subdued in the campaigns of Joshua; 
but they still remained within its borders, a constant 
menace to Israel, frequently rising in the effort to re- 
gain their lost territory. The Hebrews could main- 
tain themselves only by continual warfare, and this 
warfare became the more difficult because of the num- 
ber of hostile tribes which confronted them. Had the 
land been held by a single strong nation they might 
have shattered its power at a single blow; but as it 


- 
a 


THE PERIOD OF THE $UDGES. 169 


was divided among a large number of clans, each in- 
dependent of the other, and each under its own king, ° 
the Hebrews were obliged to conquer them piecemeal 
and dispossess them little by little. They had been 
forewarned of this. They had been told of ‘seven 
nations greater and mightier than they” whom the 
Lord should “deliver before them;’’* and again, that 
they should be “driven out little by little” until the 
people of Israel should have so increased as to be able 
to inhabit the land. They were not to be driven out 
in a single year, ‘‘lest the land should become deso- 
late” and the “beasts of the field multiply against 
them.” These nations might combine against the 
Israelites, as they did in several instances; yet for all 
practical purposes they were separate nations, each 
nation acting for itself. A victory might be decisive 
in one place and completely humble the tribe from 
which it had been obtained, while at the same time, 
only a few miles away, another enemy arose in new 
territory which in turn must be overcome. Accord- 
ingly this period was not only protracted, but it was 
one of constant occupation, busy movement and direct 
contact with new and hostile elements. Until the He- 
brews had multiplied sufficiently to occupy the terri- 
tory the dispossession of these heathen tribes was most 
difficult, indeed impossible, since they would spring 
up behind the Israelites, on leaving a district, as they 
sprang up before them when they advanced. It was, 
therefore, not a time for the development of their pe- 
culiar institutions, and we ought not to expect to find 


(24) Deut. vil: 1. 
(25) Ex. xxill:29, 30. 


170 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


in it any emphatic or repeated references to their dis- 
tinctive hope. 

But another consideration must be added to the 
foregoing. ‘The Hebrews, surrounded as they were 
by heathenism which was grossly sensual as well as 
persistently aggressive, and being divided from each 
other in their occupation of their tribal allotments, 
yielded at times to the temptations which assaulted 
them. They had also been carefully warned concern- 
ing this. They had been instructed in advance to 
make no treaties with the heathen into whose land 
they should come, but to destroy their altars and break 
down their images, and burn their idols with fire; and 
to remember that they themselves were a holy people 
unto the Lord, their God.®? Before the death of 
Joshua, and after the conquest of the southern portion 
of. the land, he had endeavored to remind them of this 
by the solemn assembly convened in Mount Ebal ac- 


cording to the command of Moses, when he wrote, 


upon stones a copy of the law, and read to the people 
its words, with the blessings and the curses.°” And 
again, at the close of his life, when he gathered the 
people together at the same place, in order that their 
minds might be the more affected by the remem- 
brance of the former convention; and when they sol- 
emnly renewed the covenant to put away all the false 
gods which were among them, and solemnly declared 
that they would serve the Lord and obey his voice. 
In order to bind this agreement it was written in the 
Book of the Law of God and a great memorial stone 


was set up as a witness. 


(26) Deut. vii: 3; xii: 2. (28) Josh. xxiv. 
(27) Josh. vill. 


et 


THE PERIOD OF THE FUDGES. yt 


The precaution of Joshua was influential during the 
next generation. But upon the death of the elders 
who succeeded him the evil influence of the heathen 
began to be felt. The religious ceremonies of the 
people were neglected. They forsook their covenant, 
and in many cases worshipped the idols of the nations 
which were about them. 

This experience has also been repeated at other 
times in the history of the church of God. The age 
which succeeded the fathers who had learned of the 
Apostles was very similar to the age of the elders 
who outlived Joshua, and in certain branches of the 
Christian church to this day the evil influences of that 
heathenism with which it came in contact in the first 
centuries of its existence are still apparent. 

The religious life of the Hebrew people also sut- 
fered through the laws which governed the inheri- 
tance of the tribes and confined the members of 
each to their own tribal lands. In this way the 
unification of the people was long deferred. The 
tribes after their settlement appeared like so many 
separate republics, without any articles of confedera- 
tion which were binding, and consisting of independ- 
ent states. There was no central authority nor cen- 
tral bond, but on the other hand tribal jealousies and 
hostilities. Foreign invasions were therefore the more 
effective in the subjugation of the people and foreign 
influences in their demoralization. The ‘judges,” after 
which the Book of Judges is named, did not preside 
over the whole land, but over separated districts. The 
ereat national festivals were imperfectly observed, the 
great national sanctuary was forgotten, and the Le- 


172 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


vites, and even the priests, sometimes served sections 
of the great people instead of the people as one. 

We must also remember that in those early days 
intercourse between different parts of the country was 
difficult and rare. A journey of a few miles into a 
neighboring tribe, and still more so into a compara- 
tively remote district, was undertaken with great sol- 
emnity and care, as it involved many hardships such 
as would naturally arise in an undeveloped country, 
and in addition the certain encounter with the wild 
beasts (which in those days were numerous in the un- 
occupied territory) and probably with hostile people 
as well. 

We can understand, therefore, how in such little 


communities and such isolated districts the peculiar , 


principles of the Hebrew faith would be neglected and 
the flame of its hope fade into a flickering ember. The 
sparse and stationary population would almost forget 
its own origin, or if they recalled and studied the faith 
of their fathers they would scarcely be able to perceive 
its real meaning or its great promise. 

Nevertheless, we may certainly judge from the nar- 
rative that in very many districts there were certain 
well-informed and pious persons who were not cor- 
rupted by the idolatry about them, and who were bet- 
ter instructed in their faith than the mass of the popu- 


lation. The book of Ruth furnishes a beautiful picture , 


of one such district and of certain families which 
belonged to it. Despite their isolation and separa- 
tion there were always some who were conscious of 
the mission of the people of Israel and of the mean- 
ing of their peculiar existence in that peculiar land. 


| 
% 


THE PERIOD OF THE FUDGES. 173 


Occasionally, also, the people gathered under the influ- 
ence of some well-known chieftain like Gideon, and for 
a time the unity of the people was exhibited. There 
were also some scattered throughout the land who, 
like the parents of Samuel, did not forget their 
obligation to appear before the Lord, and who came 
up annually to the seat of the Ark of the Covenant 
at the return of the Feast of the Passover. By such 
means the ideal of the Hebrew faith and the vital con- 
nection of the people with the hope of Israel were pre- 
served, and that legislation which was intended to be 
its safeguard was continued. ‘Their seclusion was also 
demonstrated by their observance of the rite of cir- 
cumcision, of the Sabbath, and of the sabbatical periods 
of rest, by which the wall of separation from that 
heathen world which was in such close proximity was 
not permitted to be thrown down. ‘The Levites also, 
according to the Mosaic arrangement, had been scat- 
tered throughout the country in the cities which were 
assigned to them, and in these centers at least was 
kept alive the spirit and traditions of their order. As 
they depended for their support upon their religion 
they would keep the old faith alive. Even though in 
some districts the Levite might be the only living per- 
sonation of it, yet he connected the past with the pres- 
ent, and the present with the future. Whatever may 
have been the separation between the tribes and the 
jealousies which they entertained, the Levite, belong- 
ing as he did to all Israel, all Israel had an interest in 
him, to provide for him, to protect him, and to listen 
to his instructions. 


So the years rolled by. Meanwhile the people of 


174 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


Israel were multiplying, enlarging their borders, over- 
coming their enemies, securing for themselves an in- 
creasing portion of the territory, until we arrive at the 
point where no important enemy is found to dispute 
their title except the Philistines, who had obtained a 
pre-eminence in Palestine above any of the hostile na- 
tions which had preceded them. At the close of this 
period Eli was the presiding priest at Shiloh, and his 
two sons ministered as his assistants. But their im- 
piety and immorality was so great that they dishon- 
ored the worship of Jehovah and brought ruin upon 
their house. In this juncture the word of the Lord for 
the first time in many years is heard, and a new era 
begins in the history of the chosen people. 


SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 


The story of the child Samuel is one of the most 
familiar to the student of the Scripture. When he be- 
gan to minister unto the Lord before Eli we are told 
that ‘“‘the word of the Lord was precious,” there ‘“‘was 
no open vision.” But when it was known that he had 
received a revelation directly from the Almighty it 
became manifest not only to Eli but also to all Israel, 
‘‘from Dan even to Beer-sheba,” that the people of 
God were again blessed with the presence of a prophet 
of the Lord. 

Before Samuel had grown to manhood a circum- 
stance occurred which marks the transition point be- 
tween the first period and the second. The Philistines 
had come up to battle against Israel. The Hebrews 
in their dismay had sent to Shiloh and brought out to 
their camp the Ark of the Covenant—the two sons of 


SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 175 


Eli attending it. But in the battle which ensued the 
Israelites were defeated. A panic ensued; there was 
a terrible slaughter, and thirty thousand Hebrews 
were slain. But even this loss of life was not the 
greatest calamity. The Ark of God was taken, and 
in the death of the sons of Eli his dissolute house was 
blotted out. When Eli heard the news he fell from 
the seat upon which he was sitting awaiting the news 
of the battle, broke his neck and died. The sentiment 
of the whole people was expressed in the exclamation 
of his daughter-in-law, the wife of one of the sons 
which had been slain, when giving birth to a child in 
the moment of her awful disappointment, she named 
him Lchabod, exclaiming: ‘The glory is departed 
from Israel, for the Ark of God is taken.” 

This defeat and disgrace was the occasion of a gen- 
eral movement upon the part of all the people, which, 
beginning with the misrule of the sons of Eli, finally 
culminated, with the misrule of Samuel’s own sons, in 
the demand for a king. Although Samuel was dis- 
posed to protest, yet the Lord instructed him to listen 
to the demand and grant the request which the people 
had made of him. Saul was anointed and the Hebrew 
monarchy was organized. 

This movement had been anticipated and provided 
for, while the people of Israel were still in the wilder- 
ness, before their entrance into the promised land.®®» 
The fulfillment of the mission of Israel could not have 
been completed without the establishment of a king- 
dom in which the royal priesthood should find its 
complete expression; and it would certainly have been 


(29) See Deut. xvii. 


176 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


provided by the direct intervention of God himself in 
due season. This movement upon the part of the peo- 
ple was, however, premature, and the form which it 
assumed was a virtual rebellion against a prophet and 
judge who had not yet been discharged from his of- 
fice, and against Jehovah whom he represented. ‘The 
reign of Saul was, therefore, abortive, although per- 
mitted by Jehovah in order to teach the people the 
futility of any rebellion against his own divine sover- 
eignty. The lesson which they learned during this 
reign was that their monarchy could not be separated 
from the theocracy, nor from its divine messengers 
and representatives in the persons of the prophets. 
So, after the death of Saul, the man whom God him. 
self had chosen and whom Samuel had anointed, the 
man after God’s own heart, the true typical king of 
Israel, ascended the throne. His birthplace was Beth- 
lehem, where the Messiah himself was to be born; 
and the king—though the Hebrews did not know it 
at the time, was to be his progenitor. David’s Lord 
was also to become David’s son. David understood 
the conditions upon which his reign was accepted of 
the Almighty, and from his accession until the close 
of his life considered himself a theocratic ruler. It 
was during his reign, therefore, that the next great 
advance is manifested in the development of the hope 
of Israel. The particular features of the unfolding 
promise appear upon the desire of David to build a 
house to the Lord in Jerusalem. The revelation 

(30) Old Testament Prophecy ; Elliott, p. 93. It must be remembered 


also that Saul sprang from Benjamin, whereas the Messianic line was 
that of Judah. 


SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 177 


which was made to him upon the expression of this 
desire transcends the previous predictions in its en- 
largement of the Messianic hope. Nathan, the prophet, 
came to the king with a wonderful message, of which 
two versions are given in the Scripture, the one in 
Il. Samuel, ch. vii.; the other in I. Chronicles, ch. xvii. 
The words employed in both cases are substantially 
the same. We quoce from the latter: ‘‘ Furthermore 
I tell thee, that the Lord will build thee an house. 
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired, 
that thou must go to be with thy father, that I will 
raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy 
sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build 
me an house, and | will establish his throne forever. 
J will be his father and he shall be my son, and I will 
not take my mercy away from him as I took it from 
him that was before thee; but I will settle him in mine 
house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall 
be established for evermore.” This promse included 


the everlasting reign of the house of David, the erec- | 


tion of the house of Jehovah by the Seed of David, and 
the exaltation of the Seed of David to divine sonship. 

As the promise which was made to Abraham was 
specialized in the promise which was given by the 
hand of Moses, so the prediction of Balaam concern- 
ing the “Sceptre” and the “Star” which should arise 


out of Jacob is now specialized in the vision of the™ Dod 


sceptre of David’s Son. The conquering star of Jacob 
occupies the throne of David. The Seed of the woman, 
afterwards recognized as the Seed of Abraham, is now 
still more particularly seen to be the Seed of David. 
But the special feature of this prediction is in the rela- 


*. 


178 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


tion of sonship which is hereby foretold. Israel at the 
time of the Exodus had been adopted by Jehovah and 
called his ‘‘first-born.”” This relation of sonship is now 
particularly applied to the Seed of David, but in a pecu- 
liar and much higher sense. It will not answer to in- 
terpret this prediction as referring to Solomon, since 
it cannot possibly be fulfilled in him. Solomon, like 
David before him, was only the herald of its realiza- 
tion. David, as the son and seed of Abraham, was 
the herald of the realization of that particular prom- 
zse, as Solomon, the royal son of David, is the herald 
in turn of ¢he later features. Solomon sitting upon 
David’s throne and building the house of Jehovah is 
only pointing the way to the full realization of the 
promise in the Messiah. The kingdom of David is an 
everlasting kingdom. His dynasty is an everlasting 
dynasty. His throne is an everlasting throne. 

Thus in the prophecy of Nathan the hope of Israel 
is still farther particularized and enlarged, and a new 
ideal is constituted as the base of the prophecies of the 
future. 

A very large amount of literature is connected with 
this period, many of the Psalms being included in it. 
It is impossible for us to enter into the consideration 
of particular passages, or to dwell upon the beautiful 
details of the features of the hope of Israel which are 
presented in this age. From this time forth the com- 
ing Messiah was not only the chief feature of the faith 
of Israel (as indeed he had always been), but this was 
the particular feature wherewith the thought of the 
people was the most prominently and the most pas- 
sionately connected. The book of Psalms, perhaps 


—e 


SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 179 


more than any other, kept alive these thoughts and : 
hopes, and gave them character. A very considerable 
portion of it was written by David himself, under the 
influence of the inspiring promise which. had been 
made to him. The book was at the same time the 
liturgy, the hymnody and the theology of the church. 
During the changeful periods in the troubled history 
of Israel which were to follow, these beautiful lyrics 
ministered to the faith of the people and inspired their 
confidence. The grandeur of their conceptions, their 
intense pathos, their sweet tenderness of feeling, their 
childlike simplicity of faith, and their entire trustful- 
ness, expressed the deepest religious experience; but 


beyond these characteristics were the earnestness of the 
proclamation of God to the wide world, their view of 
the city of God as the ideal state, and their expecta- 
tion of the fulfillment of every promise in the ultimate 
blessedness of the world. Above all, they set forth in 
distinct lineaments a portrait of the Messiah King. 
Thither do all the lines of thought tend, and therein 
do they all center; so that when the nations of the 
world in their assaults upon the people of Israel de- 
stroyed their capital, wasted their land, and carried 
away their people into captivity, the divine assertion 
was heard above the noise of the tumult, proclaiming 
his kingdom upon earth, and promising its ultimate 
triumph in the coming Redeemer. The church was 
ever ready to respond to this proclamation and promise, 
ever ready to confess that it was his flock, the sheep of 
his pasture, some day to be gathered into the fold of 
the Great Shepherd, whom David, their king, had 
sung. 


ISO THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


After the death of Solomon came the rebellion of 
. Jeroboam and the division of the kingdom—the second 
period having continued about one hundred and sixty 
years. 


POLITICAL DECLINE? BRIGHTENINGs HOPE. 


The succeeding period was one of political decline; 
but the promises and hopes of the preceding period 
were not now to be obscured in the trials and strug- 
gles of the people as they had been during the period 
of the Judges. ‘Those hopes were too bright, those 
promises too brilliant, to be extinguished by any flood 
of persecution, however severe. So even in the loss 
of Hebrew independence the visions of the future be- 
came all the more exact and all the more inspiring, 
culminating in the revelations of that wonderful book 
ot Isaiah, which has been aptly described as the “Fifth 
Gospel.” In the prophets of this period many of the 
minute features of the coming Deliverer were de- 
scribed—the manner of his birth, the town in which he 
should be born, his personal appearance, his miracles, 
his sorrows, the method of his burial, and even his 
resurrection; his rejection by the people, the nature of 
his sufferings, the sacrificial character of his death and 
the extension of his purchased redemption to all man- 
kind. 

The prophecies of this period are characterized by 
a spirituality and a universalism which was the ulti- 
mate development of the hope, and had never before 
been fuliy expressed. The prophets looked forward 
to a time when the ‘“‘sons of strangers should join 
themselves to Jehovah” and come to his holy mountain; 


POLITICAL DECLINE. ISI 


when his house should become a ‘house of prayer 


? and when all nations should be con- 


for all nations,’ 
verted to Israel’s God. They looked forward to a 
time when the Mosaic priesthood should be set aside 
in favor of a new order of which Melchisedec was the 
type, and when from the Gentiles there should be 
“taken for priests and for Levites.” They looked 
forward to a time when Jehovah should make a new 
covenant with Israel, ‘not according to that when he 
brought them out of Egypt,” but one in which he 
would “put his law in their inward parts and write it 
upon their hearts;” when a man “should no longer 
teach his neighbor,” but all should be taught directly 
of God; when “Holiness unto the Lord’’—the peculiar 
inscription upon the mitre of the high-priest—should 
be on all the vessels in common use, and even upon 
the bells of the horses; when iniquity should be for- 
given and sin be remembered no more; when the 
“knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as 
the waters cover the sea,’’ and when the Son of David 
should be the sole king and shepherd of his people.” 
There are a multitude of glowing descriptions—of 
which these are but illustrations, of the times of the 
New Covenant, with its blessings not only to Israel, 
but to all mankind. They refer to a spiritual, world- 
wide dispensation, in which the Kingdom of God 
should be co-extensive with the habitable earth. 

In connection with these specific promises it must 
also be remembered that all the ceremonies of the 
Hebrews had some reference, either direct or remote, 


(31) See Prophecy and Fitstory in Relation to the Messiah ; Edersheim, 
Lect. VI. 


182 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


to their distinguishing hope. The promises are not 
isolated, but are features of one prophetic picture. 
Ritual, institutions and revelations are all parts of one 
grand system. Even the historical facts in the life of 
Israel are not loosely connected events; but parts of 
an organic development tending towards one definite 
end. This system was individualized in the Messiah. 
The coming deliverer had been from the first reflected 
in such objects as the ark, the ladder in Jacob’s vision 
and the brazen serpent,-and following the giving of 
the law, in their sacrifices, their thank-offerings, the 
construction of the tabernacle and of the temple; in 
the altars of sacrifice and of incense, and in the 
table of shew-bread, as well as in other furniture of 
the Lord’s house; in the vestments of the high-priest 
and of his inferiors; and in a multitude of things be- 
side. ‘Their system was saturated with this one great 
inspiring expectation; and as the centuries passed by, 
and more particularly after the decline and dispersion 
of the people, it entered into their life in all of its 
forms and aspirations, and became its ruling passion. 
Their teachers gave themselves exclusively to its 
study. ‘They declared that “all the prophets prophe- 
sied only of the days of the Messiah,” and that “the 
world was created only for the Messiah.” They found 
references to him in many other passages of the Old 
Testament than those specific predictions to which we 
are accustomed to appeal. The latter formed, as in 
the New Testament, but a small proportion of the 
whole. ‘That very many besides were regarded as 
distinctly Messianic is fully borne out by an analysis 
of those passages in the Old Testament to which the 


POLITICAL DECLINE, Wa te 


ancient synagogues referred. Their number amounts 
to upwards of four hundred and fifty, and their Messi- 
anic application is supported by more than five hundred 
and fifty references to the ancient Rabbinic writings. 
It would seem as if every event came to be regarded 
as prophetic, and every prophesy as a light casting its 
sheen upon the future, until the picture of the age in 
which the Messiah should appear stood out in the 
distant background variegated with the manifold 
brightness of prophetic utterances. The darkest night 
in the history of Israel was lit up by a hundred con- 
stellations in the heavens above; and its silence broken 
by the echoes of countless voices from the distant but 
sympathetic skies. 

After the return of the people of Israel to their own 
land, following the age of the Maccabees, and in con- 
nection with the rise of Pharisaism, the character of 
this sentiment was to a very great extent altered. 
Many fanciful expectations were introduced, which 
were entirely unwarranted either by the prophecies or 
types of the Scripture. The hope became secular and 
exclusive,so that the Jews of Palestine, in the age preced- 
ing the appearance of Christ had constructed a mental 
picture of him which was not realized in his person at 
his coming. Jesus of Nazareth was certainly not the 
Messiah whom the mass of the Jews of that age 
expected.) And yet even at that time, inasmuch as 
their ideas were at least based upon the Old Testa- 
ment, they still embodied the chief features of the 
true Messianic hope. The claim of the New Testa- 


(32) Edersheim’s Messiah ,- I, 163. 
(33) Edersheim, Vol. I, Book II, ch. v. See the whole chapter. 


184 THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 


ment concerning the Messiah is fully supported by 
Rabbinic statements. Such doctrines as the pre-mun- 
dane existence of the Messiah; his superiority to 
Moses and even to the angels; his representative char- 
acter; his sufferings; his violent death—and that for 
his people; his peculiar work of power; his redemption 
and the restoration of Israel; the prevalence of his 
law; the universal blessings of the latter days, and the 
extension of his kingdom—all were held even in that 
age by the teachers of Israel; and although there was 
much connected with these doctrines which was indis- 
tinct, incoherent, and explained from a much lower 
standpoint, a people was thus made ready for the 
Lord, composed of many sincere souls who “ waited 
for the consolation of Israel.” 

But we shall now discover, as we pass to the suc- 
ceeding chapters, that before the rise of Pharisaism, 
the glorious hope of Israel, which had developed along 
the lines indicated, had been already communicated to 
the nations, in connection with certain great upheavals 
in society and certain great movements of human 
thought. It had already entered upon its world-history 
and mission. The period of diffusion came. The 
Israelites were dispersed throughout the earth and a 
class of Jews arose who did not belong to Palestine and 
were not infected with its prejudices. These matters 


will be considered in the following division of our 
book. 


(84) It is of course impossible within our limits to treat the Messianic 
prophecies in detail. The reader who desires to pursue the subject is 
referred to the works mentioned in the foot-notes. 


Parr [Tf 


PERIOD OF DIFFUSION: JAPHETIC SUPREMACY. 


‘Remove the diadem; take off the crown. * * * Exalt him that 
is low and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn 
it * * * until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him.” 


CHAPTER 
CHAPTER 
CHAPTER 
CHAPTER 
CHAPTER 


CHAPTER 


oi: 


—Ezek, Xxi: 26, 27. 


THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 

THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 
THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JEw. 

THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


4 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


During the nine hundred years which have been re- 
viewed in the preceding chapter, the political power of 
the world was in the hands of the great Semitic empires. 
Sufficient time had been given them to make full proof 
of their ability to purify society and elevate mankind, 
but their efforts had ended in dismal failure. They 
had developed a gorgeous civilization—rich to excess 
in every feature of external magnificence, but hopeless- 
ly corrupt at heart. It was time for their experiment 
to end. The day of their probation, therefore, drew to 
a close, and in the providence of God their sceptre was 
to be transferred to other hands. 

But at this important juncture the Hebrew, with his 
fully developed hope should be at hand—a witness and 
a factor. The people who had originally come from 
Chaldza should be led back to it again. The light of 
life which had been given into their hands should be 
waved back and forth over the entire territory that 
stretched from the mountains of Persia to the cataracts 
of the Nile, in order that its reflections might be seen 
in the uttermost outposts of civilization. When the 
people of Judah were carried to Babylon, the world 
was on the eve of the greatest overturning which it 
had ever experienced. History does not afford its 
parallel until the destruction of the Roman empire. 
This revolution was to determine the destinies of the 


I8s8 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


world and the character of its civilization; and in this 
respect was more influential than anything which had 
transpired since the flood or which was to transpire 
until the Messiah himself should come. 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 


Babylon, to which the Hebrew was carried, was the 
last and the greatest of the Semitic empires; and 
Nebuchadnezzar, his captor, was the last and the great- 
est of the Semitic conquerors. The imperial city was the 
most magnificent of all the cities of the ancient world, 
and Nebuchadnezzar was her “Head of Gold.” He 
holds the same relation to the history of the East as 
Rameses II. to the history of Egypt. He also was a 
great builder. Scarcely any other name is found upon 
the bricks of Babylon. His power was much the same, 
his ambition and his assumptions. He proudly boasted, 
‘Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house 
of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the 
honor of my majesty;” and he is to be instrumentally 
credited with those qualities, both political and martial, 
which gave to his capital her proud pre-eminence. 
‘Babylon the Great’? was the marvel of antiquity. 

But while this mighty conqueror, like Rameses before 
him, had raised his extensive empire to the highest pitch 
of magnificence, he had plunged its people into the deep- 
est abyss of servility. In striking contrast to that people 
by whom his kingdom was overthrown, whose king 
always consulted with his nobles, and was even com- 
pelled at times to act against his own wishes in obedi- 
ence to the law “which altered not,” the Emperor of 


(1) Dan. iv: 30. 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR 189 


the Babylonian empire was absolute in the fullest sense 
of the word. No lawrestrained him. His highest dig- 
nitary was a mere slave dependent upon his caprice. 
No officer in the state, however high his rank, was 
sure of his position. Whom the great king “ would 
he slew, and whom he would he kept alive.” Like 
Rameses of old this exalted personage claimed to be a 
son of his god. In his sight mere men were as noth- 
ing. Nebuchadnezzar declared his own divine concep- 
tion. ‘* Merodach,” he says, ‘‘ created me in my moth- 
er’s womb.” ‘There can scarcely be a question, there- 
fore, that the golden image which he set up, as des- 
cribed in the prophecy of Daniel, and which all his 
subjects were commanded to worship upon the pain of 
being “cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace,” 
was a likeness of himself. The incident of its erec- 
tion is illustrated in many of its details by the inscrip- 
tions, or by hints from ancient authors. Diodorus of 
Sicily describes certain of these images which adorned 
the great temple of Bel, and which contained in all a 
mass of precious metal equal in value to $85,000,000 
of our money. Herodotus testifies that there was a 
statue of solid gold at Babylon in the time of Xerxes, 
18 feet high. Nebuchadnezzar in the spoil which he 
gathered throughout western Asia certainly carried 
off a sufficient amount of the precious metals to con- 
struct such an image as Daniel describes, especially if, 
as it is likely, it was not made of solid gold but only 
thickly over-laid with it. One of his inscriptions in- 
forms us that he plated an altar before the temple of 
Bel with pure gold and lined all the interior of the 


(2) Dan., v: 19. 


190 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


sanctuary ‘‘ with beaten gold shining like the rising and 
setting sun.” If the gigantic image which he set up 
was not intended to be a likeness of himself it repre- 
sented Merodach, his alleged father, and therefore the 
worship of the image was in either case substantially 
the worship of himself, and designed to honor him as 
divine.“ 

It was, therefore, just such a time as those in which 
the Almighty had before interfered in the interests of 
his people and his truth.» The blasphemies of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the culmination of his political power and the 
unspeakable immoralities of his people, were connected 
with the bondage of the people of God after the same 
example which we have observed in connection with 
the Egyptian oppression. 

The judgment of Babylon had been decreed; but 
sentence would not be pronounced until due warning 
had been given. The revolution should be accom- 
plished mercifully, if possible; but pitilessly if necessary. 
As before the Egyptian oppressor appeared Moses with 
his demand ‘‘ Let my people go;”’ so before the Babylon- 
ian monarch came Daniel with the interpretation of the 
king’s own dream—the vision of that great image of 
which the king was the golden head. But Nebuchad- 
nezzar was no more affected by the warning than 
Pharaoh had been; nor his blasphemous career arrested. 
He set up the golden idol, and cast the very people of 
God into the furnace for not adoring it. 

We observe therefore another illustration of the 
‘fulness of time.” We perceive the same leading up 
to the events now about to transpire, that we have 


(3) Geike’s Hours with the Bible, vi., 276. 


THE MEDES AND PERSIANS r. 


observed in former instances and shall observe again 
hereafter. ‘The great overturning is at hand. Of it 
the Hebrew shall be the witness and in it he shall be the 
most conspicuous factor. What is its character? 


THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 


While Nebuchadnezzar was rejoicing in his power and 
security, and saying to himself “I have made completely 
strong the defenses of Babylon; may it last forever,” a 
more vigorous and more virtuous people than his own 
were growing up to the east and north of him. Across 
the world from east to west extends a giant wall greater 
than the wall of Babylon—the backbone of Asia and 
Europe. It begins in the Eastern Himalayas, contin- 
ues in the range of the Zagros and Elburz, unites in 
the Caucasus and Taurus, and so follows on through the 
Carpathian and Styrian mountains until it emerges in 
the Alps and Pyrenees.” On the southern side of this 
wall the civilized nations of antiquity developed in In- 
dia, Mesopotamia and Egypt; as they did centuries 
afterward in Greece and Italy. On the northern side of 
the wall those tribes were nurtured which have from 
time to time descended upon the south to scourge it, 
and subdue it; to blight its civilization, and afterwards 
to restore it. ‘The mighty race which occupied the 
table land between the mountain range northeast of 
Mesopotamia was rising into importance. The special 
education of that nation was to ride the horse, to shoot 
with the bow and to speak the truth. They had started 
upon a career of conquest which was to end in the over- 
throw of Babylon itself. They believed in an eternal 

(4) Stanley, III, 55. 


1g2 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


conflict between light and darkness, and themselves the 
followers of light as personified in their god Ormuzd. 
They imbibed from their very religion an energetic 
and conquering spirit. ‘The more splendor there was in 
life, the more was Ormuzd glorified, and Ahriman, 
the prince of darkness, confounded.© They displayed 
almost the same fanaticism which the Saracens subse- 
quently showed, except that they were better able to 
control it; and their career of conquest was restless and 
rapid. They threw themselves headlong upon oppos- 
ing races. Before their career was ended they had not 
only overrun all Asia, but they had crossed the Helles- 
pont, to be arrested only at Salamis. 


CYR Wo, 


Their first great commander was Cyrus, descended 
from the little clan known as the Achzmenians, and in 
whom the Medesand Persians were harmoniously united. 
He marched from Arbela in the year 546 B. C., crossed 
the Tigris and united the Median power to his own. 
The following year he opened the campaign against 
Babylonia; but being for a time repulsed he marched 
beyond Babylon and subjugated Lydia. Thence he 
returned and reopened the campaign against Babylon. 
The great city had already suffered the loss of its 
dependencies and was surrounded on all sides by the 
Persians and their allies. Inthe year 538 B. C., the 
decisive blow was struck and Cyrus entered his new 
capital in triumph. Only twenty-six years have elapsed 
since the death of Nebuchadnezzar. The last insuf- 
ferable act of blasphemy has been performed in 


(5) Ancient World and Christianity ; De Pressense, chap. i. 


EUROPEAN HISTORY BEGINS. Los 


Belshazzar’s feast, and his degradation of the sacred 
vessels of Jehovah’s temple. The hour of doom has 
struck. His “kingdom is divided and given to the 
Medes and Persians.” It was like the overthrow of 
Rome by the Northern barbarians, making way for 
the rise of a new civilization. The great revolution 
was accomplished. ‘The political power of the earth 
was transferred into new and better hands. 

Already they were rising in the west, as well as in 
the east. The same age, almost the same generation, 
was marked by the accession of two great potentates 
in Greece and in the Grecian colonies of Asia Minor— 
Pisistratus at Athens and Creesus at Sardis. The same 
age also brings us into the midst of the first authentic 
personages of Roman history, the Tarquins, whose ex- 
pulsion from Rome was the founding of the Republic. 


EUROPEAN HISTORY BEGINS. 


Here, then, is the end of Semitic domination. Hence- 
forth the civilization of the world is to be Japhetic. 
Although Cyrus and his people were Asiatics, and al- 
though their governmental policy was Oriental in char- 
acter, nevertheless his kinship with Japhetic nations 
was such that the turning-point of history was reached, 
whereat it was determined that the rulers of the earth 
for hundreds of years to come should be European, not 
Asiatic. From this time forward the world of Greece 
and Rome was to occupy the horizon of thought until 
the Redeemer should come. 

It was a terrible overturning. Dean Stanley very 
beautifully describes the prophet Ezekiel as sitting 


(6) Chaps. xxiv-xxxii. 


194 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


over against the grave of nations into which tribe after 
tribe and kingdom after kingdom—Tyre, Assyria, 
and venerable Egypt, go plunging down among the 
bloody corpses of the past, until now the oldest and 
grandest of them all was about to descend into the 
same sepulchral vault which had received its predeces- 
sors and rivals. The prophecy of Noah was at last 
fulfilled: ‘God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall 
dwell in the tents of Shem.” “ 


THE SECOND EXODUS. 


We know but little of the individual character of 
Cyrus. But it can hardly be without foundation that 
both in Greek and Hebrew literature he is represented 
as the type of a just and gentle prince. In the provi- 
dence of God he was the liberator and benefactor of 
Israel, the best friend which the Jew has ever found 
in all of his checkered history; nor can the Christian 
forget the depth of gratitude which he owes to his 
memory. His religion brought him into close sympa- — 
thy with the Jew, as it approached more closely to the 
purity of the Jewish faith than did the idolatry of Ba- 
bylonia. Herodotus testifies that the Persians had no 
images of the gods, and neither temples nor altars, 
and that they considered the use of them a sign of 
folly. There is said to have been not a single impure, 
cruel or immoral practice united to any of their relig- 
ious ceremonies. It is not strange, therefore, that 
Cyrus should have brought the Jewish captivity to an 
end and given the order for their return to their own 
land and for the rebuilding of their temple. He is 


(7) Gen, 1x: 27. 


THE RELIGIOUS EFFECT. 195 


even dignified by Isaiah with the title, ‘‘ The Lord’s 
Anointed.” No other heathen (if indeed he was a 
heathen) is thus dignified, or distinguished by more 
affectionate language. 

We are now to consider the effect which was pro- 
duced upon the people of Israel in consequence of their 
sojourn in Babylonia, and the influence which they 
were to exert in consequence upon the world, in its 
preparation for the advent of the Messiah. This effect 
upon the Israelites was of a two-fold character. First, 
religious; second, political. 


Cite wi GlOUS ER hEC le 


The time of the Messiah’s appearing was now rapidly 
approaching, and it became necessary that the chosen 
people, through whom he was to appear, should be 
fitted for the period which was now to succeed, by a 
very peculiar training. They were, therefore, carried 
into Babylonia a sufficient length of time before the 
coming of Cyrus and the overthrow of the Semitic 
religions and civilization, to effectually cure them of 
all tendencies towards idolatry. During the seventy 
years of their captivity their religious lite was slowly 
re-awakened under the influence of their misfortunes 
and the stimulating words of their prophets. ‘heir 
servitude had not been so severe as it was in the land 
of Egypt. They seemed to have been settled in colo- 
nies here and there throughout the land, working in 
various forms of bond service, but allowed free inter- 
course with each other and permitted to retain their 
distinct organization and customs, at least to a consid- 
erable extent; but the iron of slavery had none the less 


196 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


entered deeply into their souls. Contempt and hatred 
were lavished upon them. They were subjected to 
abuse which culminated frequently in the dungeon or 
in death. They were despoiled, robbed, betrayed, and 
imprisoned, until their spirits were crushed and their 
lives embittered. After a time their condition seems 
to have improved. ‘They were permitted to hold land 
and cultivate vineyards and follow certain trades, and 
they accumulated thereby some property, doubtless in 
consequence of that merciful providence which was 
preparing the way for their return. But they grew more 
and more discontented with Babylonia. They recalled 
with more and more fervor the days of their early his- 
tory, especially the times of Abraham and the patri- 
archs, and the longings for redemption became with 
them a passion which we find expressed in some of 
the most pathetic literature which the period has given 
tous. Among the Psalms which were written at, or 
just after this time, we may select as a single illustra- 
tion the 126th: ‘When the Lord turned again the 
captivity of Zion we were like them that dreamed. 
Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our 
tongue with singing. Then said they among the 
heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. 
The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we 
are glad. ‘Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the 
streams in the south. ‘They that sow in tears shall 
reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing 
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 
bringing his sheaves with him.” Sincere penitence for 
the past, and determination to be true to Jehovah in 
the future, increased. They celebrated the days of 


THE RELIGIOUS EFFECT. 197 


their calamities in the siege of Jerusalem by a solemn 
fast. A religious revival seems to have extended 
among the people. ‘The habit of observing fixed 
hours of prayer became common. Those who feared 
Jehovah were accustomed to meet together for suppli- 
cation and religious counsel. The faces were always 
turned in prayer towards the site of the ruined temple 
as the spot where God had once been nearest to man.®) 
The change in their condition very closely resembles 
the period of the Reformation. Those who were the 
most affected by it became the Puritans of the Hebrew 
church. ‘This was the class which went back to their 
own land when the decree of Cyrus was promulgated. 
Many of the Jews had become contaminated with the 
idolatry and immorality of Babylon and could not be 
reclaimed. Babylon was to the ancient world what 
Paris is to the world to-day, and some of the chosen 
people, immersed in its pleasures and absorbed in the 
business opportunities which it presented, or in the 
opportunities of social and political advancement, pre- 
ferred to remain where they were. Those who re- 
turned were those whose hearts were set upon serving 
the God of their fathers. The land was thus re-sown 
with a select seed. The clear wine of the nation was 
drained off, leaving the lees behind. It must be re- 
membered, however, that the religious revival con- 
tinued after the first colony of Jews had departed from 
Babylon, and resulted in the withdrawal of other colo- 
nies in the course of time from their heathen surround- 
ings, and in the purification of those that remained. 
In a word, then, the religious effect upon the people 
(8) Hours with the Bible, V1, chap. 16. 


198 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


was to transform the Hebrew into the Jew. The 
Israelite, as we know him to-day, dates back to Baby- 
lon rather than to Egypt. All those characteristic 
principles and emotions which we observe in the Israel- 
ite of the New Testament were begotten of the Baby- 
lonish captivity. Their special reverence for the 
sacred text; the class of scribes whose pleasure and 
duty it was to transcribe it, to study it and to expound 
it; the synagogue or popular religious meeting of the 
Jewish people; a multiplication of forms of prayer, 
and the indulgence and liberty to employ, upon occa- 
sion, prayers which were not liturgical—all these 
features, and many like them, date from that age. 
But, more than all else, the Hebrew became a Jew in 
that his exclusive views of his own religion were 
largely modified. There had been opened to him a 
much broader horizon. He had been taught a certain 
philosophy of history, in consonance with which, under 
the leadership of such prophets as Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel and Daniel, he began to understand his true 
place among the nations of the world and to intelli- 
gently forecast the future. However narrow he may 
have subsequently become in his bigoted zeal for the 
law, and his punctilious formalism; it was certainly 
made plain to him as never before, that he had a mis- 
sion to fulfill which should not be completed until the 
Gentiles received the light. 


THE VPOLTTIGAL ERREGT. 


The political effect upon the Jew is as marked as 
the religious one. It is also closely associated with 
it and is thus invested with great importance. 


THE POLITICAL EFFECT. 199 


The modification of Hebrew seclusion, of which we 
have just spoken, became itself marked in connection 
with political affairs and reacted upon his religious 
sentiments. The names of .a number of Hebrews 
who held office under the Persian kings have come 
down to us. We know of two prime ministers, one 
queen, one cup-bearer, three governors of a province, 
one keeper of the royal forest, and the like, and 
unquestionably there were many more who served in 
similar capacities. 

It was due to the fostering friendship of the Persian 
kings that the Jewish people rapidly spread abroad 
throughout all the nations of the East until within 
fifty years after their emancipation, Haman, their 
would-be destroyer, could describe them in this lan- 
guage: “A certain people scattered abroad and dis- 
persed among all the people in all the provinces of thy 
kingdom, their laws diverse from all people’ The 
isolation of the Jew has now ceased, and he is about 
to enrich the nations of the world with the principles 
and aspirations of his religion. ‘The intercommunica- 
tion between Jews and Gentiles answered the purpose 
of divine providence in maintaining a certain relation 
between the received religions and other religions, and 
between the chosen people and other peoples. The 
Jew became a cosmopolitan. He formed the vital 
bond between the nations of the old world and the 
new. In him the East and the West were united. 
Although henceforth, as always, Jerusalem was to be 
the religious capital of the people, yet there were two 
great centers of their national life, Babylon in the 

(9) Esther, 111:8. 


200 THE GREAT OVERTURNING. 


east and Jerusalem in the west. About an equal 
number of Jews resided in each place. There was a 
generous rivalry between them. Two separate schools 
of Jewish thought grew up, one in each of these great 
cities, and from these centers Jewish influences radi- 
ated throughout the eastern and the western world. 

The revolution which was thus accomplished pro- 
duced effects upon the Jew himself not unlike those 
which were produced in other nations. The Jew was 
revolutionized. Henceforth he was never again to be 
permitted to enjoy an independent national life. The 
time has now come when he,must be a missionary and 
a witness to the promises of God. Again Judea is to 
become the highway of the nations, but not in the same 
sense in which it formerly was. In the days before the 
Babylonian captivity the Hebrews themselves made 
but little use of this highway. They were content to 
dwell in their own land. But from this time forth 
they themselves were to be the great travelers of earth— 
carrying their religious principles with them. The 
seclusion of the Jew has done its work. The Jew must 
now become, not the most secluded, but the most con- 
spicuous person upon the earth. In the seclusion which 
he formerly enjoyed his religion was brought to its full 
development. Under the captivity which he has just 
suffered he has been rendered absolutely loyal to it. 
Flis character cannot now be altered by contact with 
the nations of the world; so while he is to freely min- 
gle with them, it shall be only as the precious gold is 
freely intermingled with the baser minerals of the 
earth, while it is never corrupted by them. 

Thus in the overturning of the old civilization and 


THE POLITICAL EFFECT. 201 


the transmission of power from Semitic to Japhetic 
nations, and also in that mighty revolution which 
transformed the secluded Hebrew into the ‘“ Wander- 
ing Jew,” the Almighty was preparing for that greatest 
of all epochs, when his salvation was to be published 
throughout the earth. 

It may possibly be discovered some day that the 
words of the prophet Ezekiel have a different meaning 
and wider interpretation than has thus far been as- 
sumed. He says: 


“And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the Prince of 
Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end, 
thus saith the Lord God; remove the mitre, and take off the 
crown; this shall be no more the same. Exalt that which is 
low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, 
overturn it: This also shall be no more, until he come whose 
right it is; and I will give it him.” (Ch. xxi: 25-27, R. V.) 

The words are, to say the least, remarkably applica- 
ble to the abasing of Babylonia, and the exalting of 
Persia, when the crown was forever taken from the 
head of the Semitic race. 


“IT WAS WRITTEN IN 


HEBREW, GREEK AND LATIN.” 


Ba Gs HEBREW. GREEK. LATIN. 
°°| Decree of Cyrus. ALES. | THE TARQUINS. 
25 De a tN Sik ons 
ZERUBBABEL. PYTHAGORAS. 
500 XENOPHANES. THE REPUBLIC 
ESTHER. Miecathon Tribunes of People. ; 
zo Salamis. 
EZRA. PERICLES. 
xe) toe a ee 
NEHEMIAH. wiehgbeher ide Onl Xll TABLES. 
Peloponesian War. 
BB) le tS ee eee 
| MALACHI. SOCRATES. JUS GIVILE. 
400) 
PLATO. 
765 oe 
ARISTOTLE. Consuls. : 
SOP | ee ee 
JADDUA |; ALEXANDER. i 
25 MisAterian a ux e . 
PTOLEMY LAGUS. 
300 SELEUCUS I. 
| “Septuagint. |PTOLEMY PHIL’s. 
abi eked UI 3 
NO. 
‘ CHASIDIM.  ERLCURLIE:| Ist Punic War. 
Sadducees and 
ss Pharisees. 
: ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT ; 
200 PTOLemMY EPIPHANES.| 29d Punic War. 


25 


JASON. ANTIOCHUS EPH. 
JUDAS MACC’B’S 


SIMON. 
JOHN Hyrcanus| 


ALEX, JANNAEUS. | 


SYLLA. 
Judza Conquered “POMPEY. 


ANTIGONUS. 


38rd Punic War. 


Destruction of | 
Carthage. 


JUS GENTIUM. 


Capture of 
Corinth. 


HEROD THE GREAT| CLEOPATRA. 


JULIUS CASAR. 
JUS NATURALE. 


AUGUSTUS. 


Subjection of Egypt. 


CHaprTrer VIII. 


THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


As we enter the fifth century before Christ, there 
seems to be a hastening of events in the course of pre- 
paration of the world for the Redeemer. His coming 
draws rapidly nigh; and the movement of providence 
is distinctly directed to that particular influence which 
is to be exercised upon the nations of the earth in order 
to fit them for the reception of the truth accompany- 
ing salvation.” 

What is to be done in order to prepare the way ot 
the Lord? But a few hundred years remain until God 
shall command all men everywhere to repent, and the 
Redeemer shall send forth his apostles with the blessed 
message of reconciliation, to make disciples of all na- 
tions. How shall the world be made ready for the inaug- 
uration of this work? Wecan readily answer, even with 
a little thought on the subject, that these three things 
must certainly be secured in advance: Ist, Provision 
must be made for the safety of the divine messenger, 
as he goes upon his apostolic mission. 2d, Facility of 
‘intercourse must be insured, in order that his thought 
may be readily communicated to those whom he desires 
to influence.- 3d, And such a measure of fraternal feeling 

(1) A frequent reference to the accompanying chart will greatly assist 


the reader in locating the events of providential history and their mutual 
relations. 


204 LHE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


must be provided, as to secure a degree of sympathy; 
which sympathy shall be expressed not only in the 
presence of certain individuals who shall in some way 
be akin to him; Lut also ina community of thought 
and of custom which may render his hearers, wherever 
he find them, whether in Europe, Asia or Africa, dis- 
posed to listen to his message. We are not consjder- 
ing a theory in view of the facts of history; but reason- 
ing from certain well-known conditions of successful 
effort, as they appear, for example, in the missionary 
operations of our own day. The successors of the 
Apostles have been often hindered, even in very recent 
times, because these things were not provided: Their 
persons were not secure; the language of the people to 
whom they went was a unknown tongue; and violent 
prejudices were aroused among those whom they sought 
to benefit. On the other hand, the most rapid progress 
has been made where their rights were secured by 
treaty; where they found a language with which they 
were already familiar; and where, even under a hos- 
tile government, they found a small community with 
whom they were able to establish some bond of com- 
mon feeling; as, for example, the Armenians and Nes- 
torians in the Turkish and Persian empires. 

We find therefore, as we enter upon the study of 
this period, that the Lord is providing the agents which 
are exactly fitted to supply the necessary conditions for 
the rapid and successful propagation of the Gospel, in 
the singular dispersion of three great separate races. 
Of these the Greek is to supply the common language 
and literature; the Roman, the political power which 
insures equal rights to all the subjects of his vast 


THE MISSION OF THE GREEK. 205 


empire; and the Hebrew, the scattered communities 
among whom his own brethren who have accepted 
Christ, are first to preach the Gospel, and through 
whom they are to reach the heathen. 


DE MISSION OF “DHE GREE ke 


The mission of the Greek was one of thought, with 
the incomparable Greek language as its vehicle. Greek 
is the richest and most delicate tongue which the peo- 
ple of the earth have ever spoken. It can best express 
the highest thoughts of the mind and the worthiest 
emotions of the heart. It is to this day the instrument 
of education for the world, the source of the most re- 
fined intellectual culture. The race which spoke this 
language had therefore a providential calling. Their 
thought was first to develop and discipline the 
minds of men. Their language was then to be car- 
ried throughout the civilized world; and finally the 
Almighty himself was to cast the revelation of Jesus 
Christ into the forms of that language, make use of 
that thought and employ the very expressions which it 
had originated in presenting the New Covenant to the 
world. 

The Israelite himself could scarcely have discerned, 
even from the heights to which his prophets had car- 
ried him, the coming of that great nation of the west 
and the mighty influence which it was about to exert. 
The whole western world at the time of his return from 
Babylon, seemed to him to be summed up in the only 
object that was within his view, the distant range of 
the comparatively insignificant island of Cyprus. It 
may be that a few Jewish seamen, who had served in 


206 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


the armies of the empire of the Persians, had wandered 
to the west and shared in the struggles which it had 
waged with the east in the ineffectual effort of the 
‘creat king’? to subdue its people; but no distinct 
voice had yet reached them from those distant regions. 
Soon, however, the Jew himself was to hear the accents 
of that Grecian tongue which was to displace his own 
in the language of his very synagogue and of his own 
sacred books. 


““ Not by eastern windows only 
When daylight comes, comes in the light; 

In front the sun climbs slow—how slowly, 
But westward, look! the land is bright.” @) 


GREEK COLONLES: 


It is a most significant fact that while the power and 
influence of the other great peoples of the ancient world 
were extended by conquest the influence of the Greeks 
was chiefly extended by colonization.” From the 
very earliest times, even from those of which there is 
no authentic history, they were rovers. It is presumed 
that they passed over into Greece from Phrygia, in the 
northwestern part of Asia Minor. But they were 
scarcely settled in the land which was to be the seat of 
their dominion, before they entered upon that career 
which made them distinctively a maritime and commer- 
cial people. It is more than likely that they acquired 
their habit from contact with the Phcenicians—the first 
great travelers of the world. Indeed it is more than 
likely that we should find upon investigation, if there 
were sufficient material to supply it, that the Phoeni- 


(2) History of the Fewish Church, Stanley; III, p. 214. 
(3) Well set forth by Conybeare and Howson, Vol. I, ch. i. 


WOLS?d LY ATG NAL MAA 


GREEK COLONIES. 207 


cians themselves had a distinct part in the preparation 
of the world for the diffusion of Greek influence (and 
thus for the coming of the Redeemer,) by their com- 
munication to them of their roving inclination. In very 
early times different tribes of the Greeks had spread 
through Macedonia, Sicily, Peloponnesus; and thence 
to Thrace, beyond the Bosphorus, along the shores of 
the Black Sea, down again along the western coast of 
Asia Minor, returning to their home in Phrygia, colon- 
izing Lydia, crossing over to Crete, spreading as far 
west as Sicily and Southern Italy. Among the cities 
which were founded by them during this period 
were Syracuse .(734 B. C.), Sybaris (720 -B. C.), 
Croton (710 B.C.), Pastum (Poseidonia), and Cume 
(about the same date), and Byzantium (657 B. C.). 
Their emigrations extended still farther. Greek colo- 
nies were settled along the southern coast of what is 
now known as France. Massilia, the modern Mar- 
seilles (600 B. C.), was one of their colonies, and thence 
again they spread farther west, and settled along the 
coast of Spain, founding their westernmost colony at 
Meenoca, within too miles of the Straits of Gibraltar. 
They came also into close intercourse with Egypt and 
built Naucratis (550 B.C.), which was colonized from 
Miletus. ‘They spread to the west, founding the flour- 
ishing City of Cyrene (630 B.C.). They settled as 
far west as Carthage. They were at once the rivals 
and successors of the Tyrians and Carthaginians, trans- 
planting their language and their customs to every port 
into which their ships sailed.” These Greek colonies, 
especially those of Southern Italy, became exceedingly 


(4) History of Greece, Grote; Chapters xx to xxii. 


208 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


ingly populous, prosperous and influential, and in course 
of time luxurious and effeminate. Our word “ Syéar- 
zte”’ still preserves to this day the history of the plea- 
sure-loving people of that splendid city from which it 
a city which could once muster from its 


is derived 
dependencies an army of 300,000 men. Yet there 
were other colonies equally important, such as Croton, 
the rival and conqueror of Sybaris, whose very senate 
had a thousand members! © 

These early colonies, therefore, even had there not 
been a later movement of vast proportions to follow 
them, would certainly have exercised a mighty influ- 
ence upon civilization. ‘The Greeks were the lettered 
people of antiquity. Wherever a love of knowledge 
and of art was awakened there Greek books pene- 
trated, Greek teachers were found, and Greek art was 
cultivated. These colonies, even the most distant of 
them, were always loyal to the spirit of the fatherland. 
The children of colonists, who had never themselves 
seen Greece, yet turned to it with longing eyes and 
affectionately cherished its traditions.© The pre-emi- 
nence and permanence of Greek thought and of Greek 
institutions, even in those colonies, is signally illus- 
trated in the beautiful ruins still standing in Southern 
Italy and which command the admiration of the tour- 
ist of our own day. 

These Greek colonies, therefore, served a providen- 
tial purpose. They were the heralds in early times of 
that general Greek influence which was one day to be 
felt throughout all the world, and in that portion of 


(5) Hestory of Greece, Grote; Chapter xxii. 
(6) History of Rome: Mommsen; I, 184. 


GHERERALAOGGH I. 209 


the world, namely, the west of Europe, to which Greek 
institutions were not to be carried by the conquering 
armies of Alexander. They held the ground by an 
intellectual pre-emption, thus to provide for the con- 
nection of the East with the West when the time for 
the hellenizing of the world should have arrived. 


GREEK THOUGHT. 


But before the general diffusion of the Greek lan- 
guage and the general influence which accompanied it, 
the Greeks had a distinct mission to the world in di- 
recting its thought into those channels wherein it 
should be led to an earnest striving after truth anda 
readiness to accept it when it should be made known. 
A beautiful figure of Mommsen’s has suggested the 
thought that it was unquestionably a part of the divine 
plan that the political development of the Greeks 
should not keep pace with their intellectual develop- 
ment; but, ‘just as too full a bloom bursts the cup that 
contains it,’’ so, on the contrary, the petty-state system 
of Greece insured the hellenizing of the world. 

The history of Greek philosophy is one of the most 
engaging studies which the scholar can pursue. It is 
impossible for us in the limits of the present work, and 
it is inconsistent with its design, to trace that history 
in detail. We must content ourselves with a brief re- 
view of the earlier systems, following it with a more 
particular notice of that singular period when those 
philosophers appeared who represented the noblest 
struggles and aspirations of the classic mind. We 


(7) Provinces of the Roman Empire; Book VIII, chap. vii. (“ Greek 
Europe.”) 


210 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


shall first observe the succession of several forms of 
philosophy, each of them dying through that which 
was false and incomplete in it, and each succeeded by 
a doctrine which was a refutation of the errors con- 
tained in its predecessor, yet containing in itself other 
errors, which in turn led to its own dissolution. 


FARE Ya prllLOsOR UE RS, 

Strange to say, the early Greek philosophies were 
all originated outside of Greece, in the colonies to 
which we have referred. It was in Ionia, at the time 
when Solon was founding Athenian democracy, that 
philosophy, properly so called, made its first appear- 
ance with Thales of Miletus, 640 to 550 B.C. Heand 
the philosophers who immediately followed him repre- 
sented the gross naturism which predominated in Asia 
Minor. ‘Thales supposed that water was the first prin- 
ciple of all things, from which they arose by its solidifica= 
tion. It has been held that Thales formed this concep- 
tion during a visit to Egypt, beholding the blessings of 
which the Nile was the instrumental source, and being 
impressed with the divine honors which were paid to 
the stream. Other authorities, however, question 
whether ‘Thales ever journeyed so far, and deny this 
assumption.” His philosophy rather betrays the first 
independent effort of the Greek mind to extricate it- 
self from the ancient fable which represented the earth 
as floating upon water, and manifests the influence of 
the old popular theories. _Water—that is to say, hu- 


midity—appeared to him to be the condition and 


source of life, the germinal principle, the explanation 


(8) Presbyterian Review , Vol. X, No. 38. 
(9) History of Ancient Philosophy , Ritter, Book II, ch. 2 


FARDLIGPHILOSOPHLEIS. 211 


of all nutrition and development. Even his notion that 
humidity is the source of heat must be referred to the 
old legend that the sun and stars were nourished by 
the vapors arising from the sea. He regarded the en- 
tire world, therefore, as endowed with a living prin- 
ciple; an ensouled thing, capable of self-development 
by reason of its humidity. He believed every portion 
of the world to be invested with this life principle, 
which in some things—the magnet in particular, re- 
ceived a special manifestation. Such was Greek phil- 
osophy in the doctrine of its first expounder. 

The successors of Thales supposed the great primary 
essence to be an infinite one, of which present exist- 
ences are parts, and from which they have become in 
some way detached. Anaximander, his disciple, was 
one of the mightiest brains of that early philosophic 
age. He it was who made the first geographical map, 
and who, if he did not himself invent the sun-dial, at 
least explained and popularized it.“ His master com- 
mitted little, if anything, to writing; Anaximander 
composed the first philosophic treatise. He first uses 
the Greek term for the principle of all things (apy), 
and called it the infinite (zo ATELPOV ). The words 
pvors (from which our “ physics”), xoopos “cosmos” 
and etd dor (‘idol”—but used in a metaphysical sense 
as against polytheism ), first appear with these writers. 
He doubtless understood by the primeval and infinite 
the mixture of all elementary parts from which indi- 
viduals issued by separation, an idea very similar to 
the ancient notion of chaos. Nevertheless he regarded 


(10) Greek Philosophy ,; Zeller, §10; Ritter, Book iii, ch. 3. 
(11) Grote, ch. xvi. 


912 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVGLULION 


this mixture as a unity; immortal, indestructible, and 
invested with immeasurable energy. But the multi- 
plicity of elements of which this unity is composed are 
in time subdivided, thus producing all phenomena, 
Such, in brief, was his theory. 

These philosophers were succeeded by those of the 
Pythagorean school, which accepted dualism and en- 
deavored to formulate it. Its founder, who was born 
at Samos about 580 B. C., came to Croton at the close 
of the century. Thus, as the first great school of Greek 
philosophy is found in Asia Minor, the second is located 
in Southern Italy. 

The Greek colonies of this section nad arrived at 
their most flourishing stage; they were wealthy and 
prosperous, and many of their citizens had carried off 
the honors in the Olympic games. The unfortunate 
conflict between Sybaris and Croton, had not yet oc- 
curred, and the dual colony furnished a splendid field 
for the display of the philosopher’s genius. 

The Pythagorean philosophy is a radical departure 
from the doctrines which preceded it, in that it starts 
from the form rather than from the matter of the sens- 
ible universe. The system is derived from a certain 
fondness for mathematical studies which first engaged 
the attention of its disciples and which they had greatly 
advanced. Their leading principle is advanced in the 
formula, ‘‘ Number ( p10 105) is the essence (ovora) 
or first principle (@pyn) of all things.” This form- 
ula, however, must be taken symbolically. We must 
remember the peculiar bias of their minds and thereby 
construe the many forced similitudes which they em- 


(12) Grote, xxxvii. 


EARLY PHILOSOPHERS, 23 


ployed. With them number was the unity of two con- 
traries, the odd and the even. ‘One”’ is both odd and 
even. It is therefore the unity, the very essence of 
number, the absolute number. Their formula thus be- 
comes but their way of saying that the All is from the 
original One, which One is the Divine. From this 
primitive number all things are evolved. But inas- 
much as this primitive number is both odd and even, 
all the elements of nature, however mutually diverse 
their character, are derived therefrom. They arranged 
these elements thus:“* 

The odd and the even; 

The limited and the limitless; 

The right and the left; 

The male and the female; 

Light and darkness; 

Good and evil, etc. 

This was dualism. ‘They recognized two principles 
ever opposed to each other, of which one was the ma- 
terial and the other the spiritual, yet requiring the 
impossible subordination of the material. Their doc- 
trines consequently led them into nihilism—the drear- 
iest conclusion of the human mind. 

The natural evolution of this school produced that 
of Elea, the third great system of Greek thought, the 
second of lower Italy.“ It is distinguished from its 
predecessors by its reckless disregard of sensible phe- 
nomena. It represented an extreme idealism. It main- 
tained that the source of all truth was independent of 
and superior to sense. All the arguments of Xeno- 
phanes, its founder (570-480 B. C.), may be reduced 


(18) Ritter, Book IV; chap. ii; Zeller, $15. 
(14) Ritter, Book V. 


214 THE GREAT: INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


to two heads: A conception of the deity as an all- 
powerful being, and the denial of all beginning of 
being. From his conception of the deity proceeded a 
train of reasoning in which all multiplicity was denied. 
A plurality of gods he held to be inconceivable, inas- 
much as his theory implied, that since God was all- 
powerful, there could be no division of his omnipotence, 
else it would be thus destroyed. He was thus brought 
into collision with polytheism, which he regardced as 
an antiquated prejudice. His theories led him into 
the strangest speculations. He held that God was 
neither moved nor unmoved; neither limited nor un- 
limited; that he was without parts and without form. 
While he held that the primary elements were four— 
earth, air, fire and water, yet he endeavored to find 
in the multiplicity of all phenomena a single entity or 
revelation of the divine essence. ‘The individual had 
no permanence or no being by itself. God was the 
All. And yet, since he found himself unable to attain 
to any knowledge of God except through the knowl- 
edge of the individual and of individual phenomena, 
he confessed his ultimate ignorance and doubt. Thus 
the pantheistic theory of the Eleatic school became in- 
volved in a dualistic difficulty; which, while it differed 
in form from that of the Pythagoreans, was the same 
in substantial meaning. It endeavored to resolve all 
phenomena into a single essence; but in order to do so 
it was compelled to deny that for any subjective hu- 
man presentation there was some corresponding ob- 
jective truth This was extreme idealism, in which 
dualism resulted from the conflict between the sen- 
sible and the supra-sensible. With Empedocles—a 


BAKLIY PHILOSOPHERS. 215 


later exponent of this school—this dualism was pre- 
sented in the terms of Jove and hate. The All was 
held to be the result of their conflict! He began with 
the combination of all things in a perfect unity. The 
first creative power was love, but the formative power 
in the world was hate. Hence delusion, instability, 
error and misery. ‘Thus the radical defect in this sys- 
tem is seen to be its failure to apprehend the positive 
distinction between the conditional and the uncon- 
ditional. The result was that evil was considered as 
merely phenomenal and moral improvement was re- 
garded as purely negative —the renunciation of a 
worthless, phenomenal life. 

The three men Thales, Pythagoras and Xenophanes, 
whose various theories we have briefly discussed are 
called by Grote® “a great and eminent triad.” They 
were the best exponents of Greek intellect each in his 
own generation. We have given this hurried sketch 
of their philosophies that the reader may understand 
something of the distracted state of the Greek mind— 
the best of the ancient world, in its efforts to discover 
and state the truth. We have observed the earnest- 
ness and energy of this intellect, as it turned from one 
theory to another in its sad and vain endeavor. It was 
now to reject them all together and for a whole weary 
century to treat serious philosophy as a grim jest, and 
truth as a mere phantom of the mind. It was to re- 
sign itself to the miserable conclusion that it was im- 
possible to arrive at any certainty with regard to those 
profound questions which had been so long in debate. 

The herald of this period appeared in Democritus, 


(15) History of Greece, Part I, ch. xvi. 


216 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


founder of the Atomistic school, born about 460 B. C. 
In his theories philosophic thought experienced 4 most 
violent reaction. He absolutely denied the supra-sen- 
sible and rejected the supernatural. He explained the 
formation of all things by the doctrine of a fortuitous 
concourse of material atoms, drawn in an eternal vor- 
tex, blending and separating at the mere sport of chance. 
He sought for no first principle, for no god, for no 
morality. ‘To the idealism of the school of Elea he op- 
posed an equally absolute materialism and the philoso- 
phy of the preceding generation was turned upside 
down.) 

Observe now, that we have had dualism, pantheism, 
idealism and materialism in order. The final result 
was a hopeless confusion of thought. Between the ex- 
aggerated tendencies of opposing leaders the Greek 
mind was painfully tossed. What theory should it 
receive or should it reject all? 

The question was first answered by the appearance 
of the Sophists, a word originally applied to all stud- 
ents, but now assigned to a specific class. The reply 
of the Sophists was given in discarding serious philoso- 
phy altogether. At first they were mere rhetoricians 
and teachers of manners, traveling from place to place, 
remaining in any locality only so long as students could 
be found who had the means to employ them.“  Phi- 
losophy became in their hands a “ bread-and-butter. 
profession.” They made a sport of its loftier preten- 
sions. ‘They set one philosopher against another, and in 
view of their mutual contradictions declared that it 
was impossible to arrive at the truth; that upon any 


(16) Zeller, § 24. (17) Ritter, B. VI. 


EBARLY PHILOSOPHERS. 217 


given question two opposite but equally plausible an- 
swers might be made. They therefore ridiculed such 
pursuits and sought the repression of all discussion 
upon abstruse subjects. Let men be taught graceful 
diction and engaging demeanor; how to write, speak 
and act so as to secure influence—that is all-sufficient. 
Such appear to have been their principles. They aimed 
solely at effect. They taught how to plead opposite 
sides of the same case with equal force. They pol- 
ished only the outside of the cup and platter. It must 
perhaps be granted that Grote,“ in opposition to the 
majority of scholars, has cleared their school of the de- 
liberate attempt to confuse the intellect of Greece and 
defile her moral sense; but their influence was never- 
theless destructive both of intellect and morals. Hav- 
ing no regard for serious things and making no study 
of serious subjects, they were noted for their atheism 
and impiety. ‘The results of their teachings—which 
had been very widely given, was the deepest possible 
unrest. Philosophy fell into discredit, and positive 
despair of ever knowing the truth took possession of 
the mind. It was one of the saddest periods in the 
whole history of Greece. All certainty had vanished. 
There was no rule of thought or of conduct, and the 
only benefit which the Sophists conferred upon their 
age was the development of a polished rhetoric which, 
however, had neither heart, nor thought in it. 

The time is now ripe for the appearing of one who 
shall extricate the Greek, and with him every thinking 


(18) History of Greece, ch. Ixvii. 

(19) Religions Before Christ, De Pressense, p. 104. Ancient World 
and Christianity ; p. 351. See also a fine summary of this entire period 
in Ritter, Book VI, ch. 5. 


218 YHE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


man, from this terrible ‘Slough of Despond ” into which 
the course of philosophy, and especially the destructive 
work of the Sophists had plunged him, to bring him at 
least to its borders, where he may be within reach of 
the hand of “Help.” Some deliverer should be at 
hand, who, if it be not the Messiah himself, shall be at 
least one of his forerunners. There is not only a singu- 
lar dearth of great thinkers, but of good men and strong 
men of every class. The long struggles between the 
contending states has just been brought to an end in 
the close of the Peloponnesian War. Every one of 
the great statesmen of Athens has passed away, and 
with them every one of the great writers who belonged 
to the period of Pericles. Thucydides is dead—his 
exciting tale left unfinished in the middle of a sentence. 
Euripides is dead, torn in pieces by the hounds of the 
king, his royal patron, in Macedonia. Sophocles has 
departed this life full of honors. And as though to 
crown what would at first appear to be the dissolution 
of the Greek influence with a chaplet of horrors, a ter- 
rible plague has been raging at Athens. But under the 
mighty hand of God all this has been permitted in order 
to make ready for one of the greatest teachers of the 
heathen world. Not only has the field been cleared 
for him by the departure of the great authors whose 
names have just been mentioned; not only has a deep 
desire been created for the coming of suchas he by the 
despair in which the intellect was plunged, and the 
sufferings which the body has endured; but the match- 
less language of Greece is now ready for his use in the 
perfection to which it has been brought by the masters 
of literature who preceded him, and Attic prose, the 


SOCRATES. 219 


model of all time, is cast in its final complete and most 
expressive form. Moreover, as though to give the 
moment the more distinguished providential character, 
his appearance is coincident with that of the last Jewish 
prophet and his death occurs at the same time, almost 
in the same year, with the death of Malachi. Zhe 
formal tuition of the Few rts ended as that of the 
Greek ts begun. 
SOCRATES, (2) 

With the advent of Socrates we are introduced to a 
revolution in the domain of mind very similar to that 
which occurred in the domain of politics when Cyrus 
entered Babylon. While it was his mission to teach 
men how little they knew, it was also his mission, in 
opposition to the Sophists, to teach men that at least 
a little might be definitely known and implicitly relied 
upon. His peculiar work was to divert their attention 
from the world without, and direct it to the world 
within themselves. This was due to his recognition 
of the discrepancy between what we call scientific and 
religious truth, and his devotion to phenomena belong- 
ing to the latter. ‘The substance of his philosophy is 
all included in the celebrated inscription over the en- 
trance to the chief shrine at Delphi, which is attributed 
to him, ‘“Azow thyself.” 

It is not necessary to describe his personal appear- 
ance nor to enter into the details of his life. He was 
born of humble parentage; his father was a sculptor of 
little repute. He served an apprenticeship in his work- 
shop and grew to manhood before the conception of his 
calling dawned upon him. He also served as a soldier 


(20) On this entire section, Grote, ch. lxvil; Ritter, Vol. II. 


220 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


for a while, and did not begin to teach until the atten- 
tion of others had been directed to him by his singular 
habit of engaging for protracted periods in a state of 
abstract reverie. As he became aware of his own 
power and his possession of certain methods and prin- 
ciples which were far superior to those of the men 
about him, he began his work by simply entering into 
conversation with such persons as met him, until his 
fame was secured and his sayings were repeated from 
mouth to mouth. From this time to the close of his 
life the system was nothing; the man was everything. 
Probably the best way in which to convey a correct 
estimate of the quality of his doctrine is by quotations 
from his own words, as reported by his disciples. The 
following passages are taken from the “Apology,” the 
address delivered to his judges upon his trial: 

“‘ Now I, citizens, do perhaps differ from most men in this 
respect: that if I might claim to be wiser than any one else, 
it would be in this, that not knowing much about the things of 
the world below I am convinced that I do not know. But that 
it is wicked and shameful to do wrong and to disobey any one, 
whether god or man, who is better than yourself, this I do 
know. From fear, then, of those evils which I know to be 
evils, I would neither fear nor flee that which, for aught I know, 
may be a good; so that, if you were now to acquit me on con- 
dition that I no longer spend my time in the search and pursuit 
of wisdom, I should say to you, ‘Athenians, I love and cherish 
you, but I shall obey the gods rather than you;’ and as long as 
I draw breath and have the strength I shall never cease to fol- 
low philosophy and to exhort and persuade any cne of you 
whom I happen to meet, saying, as is my wont, ‘ How is it, 


friend, that you, an Athenian, of the city greatest and of most 
repute for wisdom and power, are not ashamed to be taking 


(71) The quotations are taken from the excellent little hand-book, 
“Socrates,” published by Scribners. 


DUCA To. IPS 


thought for glory and honor and for your position, that they 
may become as great as possible, while you take neither thought 
nor heed for wisdom and truth and for your soul that it may 
become as good as possible?’ ”’ ©?) 3 

«And now let us reason in this way and we shall see what 
great hope there is that death is a good, for death must be one 
of two things: either he who is dead becomes as naught and 
has no consciousness of anything, or else, as men say, there is a 
certain change and a removal of the soul from this place to some 
other. Now, if there be no consciousness, and death be like a 
sleep in which the sleeper has no dreams, then it were a won- 
derful gain indeed; for I think that if any one were called upon 
to single out that night in which he had slept so soundly as to 
have had no dreams at all, and set against it all the other nights 
and days of his life, to declare after due thought how many had 
been better and sweeter than that one, I think, I say, that even 
the great king (3) himself, not to speak of any private person, 
would find these so few in number that they might easily be 
counted in comparison with all the other days and nights of his 
life. If death, therefore, be such as this, I call it a gain; for all 
eternity would thus appear no longer than a single night. But 
if, on the other hand, death be a transition to another place, and 
if it be true, as has been said, that all who have died are there, 
what, O judges, could be a greater good than this? For, if a 
man, being set free from those who call themselves judges here, 
is to find, on arriving in Hades, those true judges who are said 
to administer justice in the unseen world, is transition thither to 
be for the worse? What would not any one of you give to con- 
verse with Orpheus and Museus and Hesiod and Homer? I, 
at least, would gladly die many times if this be true. * * * 
What, O judges, would a man not give to meet him who led 
the great army against Troy, or Ulysses, or Sisiphus, or the 
thousand others, both men and women, whom one might men- 
tion. * * * But you, too, O judges, it behooves to be of 
good hope about death, and to believe that this, at least, is true: 
There can no evil befall a good man, whether he be alive or 

: dead, nor are his affairs uncared for by the gods. Neither has 

this thing happened to me by chance, for I am persuaded that 

(22) Apology , 209. 

(23) The King of Persia. 


222 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


to die now and be released from worldly affairs is best for me, 
and this is why the sign @4) did not turn me back. Wherefore I 
bear no malice at all against my accusers or against those who 
have condemned me. * * * But now it is time for us to go 
away, I to die, you to live. Which of us is going to the better 
fate is unknown to all save God.” (*) 


The following quotations are from the Pheedo, the 
report by, Plato of his last conversation on the day be- 
fore his death: 


“This is why Ido not grieve as might be expected, but am of 
good hope that there is something in store for us after death, 
something as has been said of old, far better for the good than 
for the wicked.” ‘“ What is death but the separation of the 
soul from the body, for is not dying to have the soul and the 
body released one from the other so that each exists by itself? 
Is death anything else than this?” “It is well nigh time 
that I should think of the bath, for it seems better for me 
to bathe before drinking the poison, and not give the women the 
trouble of washing my body.” 


Crito asked him how he wished to be buried and he 
answered: 


“¢ Just as you please, if you only get hold of me and don’t let 
me escape you.” “I cannot persuade Crito,” he said: to his 
friends, “that this Socrates who is now talking with you is my 
very self. His mind is full of the thought that I am he who he 
is to see in a little while as a corpse, and so he asks how he shall 
bury me. Thus, that long argument of mine, the object of 
which was to show that after I have drank the poison I shall be | 
among you no longer, but shall go away to certain joys pre- 
pared for the blessed, seems to him but idle talk, uttered only to 
keep up your spirits as well as my own.” 


After he had bathed, his children were brought to 


him, and the women of his household. After talking 
with them and giving his last instructions he bade them ~ 


(24) He refers to his inward “ divinity.” 
(5) Apology , 40-42. 


SOCRATES. 223 


depart, and continued his conversation with his friends 
until the approach of sunset. At this time the execu- 
tioner arrived and said to him: 


“‘T shall not have to reproach you, O Socrates, as I have 
others, with being enraged and cursing me when I announced 
to them by order of the magistrates, that they must drink the 
poison; but during this time of your imprisonment I have learned 
to know you as the noblest and gentlest and best man of all that 
have come here; and so | am sure that you will not be angry 
with me now, that you know the real authors of this and will 
blame them alone, and now that you know what it is that I have 
come to announce, farewell, and try to bear as best you may the 
inevitable.” 


Upon this he burst into tears and went away. 
Socrates looking after him said: 

«© May it fare well with you also. We will do what you have 
bidden.” 

Turning to his companions he added: 

“How courteous the manis. The whole time I have been 
here he has been constantly coming to see me and has frequently 
talked with me and shown himself to be the kindest of men. 
But come, Crito, we must obey him. Let the poison be brought, 
if it is already mixed. If not, let the man mix it.” 

The author narrates that when the cup was handed 
to Socrates he put it to his lips and “right easily and 
blithely drank it off.” His companions were in tears 
and some of them wept aloud—not for him, as Plato 
assures us, but for their own fate in being deprived of 
such a friend. Socrates unbraided them, saying: 


« What are you doing, you strange people? Why, my chief 
reason for sending away the women was that we might be spared 
such discordance as this; for I have heard that a man ought to 
die in solemn stillness. So pray be composed and restrain your- 


selves.” 


He walked about for a time until his limbs were 


224 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


paralyzed, then cast himself upon the couch and said 
that in a few moments the poison would reach his 
heart as he was already cold up to his waist. Then 
uncovering his face he said: 

“ Crito, we owe a cock to /Hsculapius. Pay the debt and 
don’t neglect it.” 

Crito attempted to answer him, but Socrates had 
passed beyond the reach of hearing. He had gone 
where neither companions nor judges would be able 
to find him. ‘Such was the end,” says Plato, ‘“ of our 
friend; the man whom we may well call of all men 
known to us of our day the best, and besides the wisest 
and the most just.” } 


THESINFUUENCES OF CHIS#PHILOSOPHae 


It is apparent from the quotations which have been 
given that the great work of Socrates was in directing © 
the attention of men to the knowledge of themselves 
and the care of their immortal part. He sought to 
persuade them to cultivate such a character as should 
insure the company of the good and true in another 
world, if indeed there was another world. He seems 
to have been wholly occupied with this attention to - 
the soul. He turned away from the study of material 
nature. He had no time for such inquiries. What 
was honorable, what was just, what was wise, what 
was courageous, what was good for an individual, a 
state, a nation—these were his questions. His teach- 
ing was a steady protest up to his very death against 
the state of thought which had been introduced by the 
philosophers who immediately preceded him. Their 
falsehoods and sophistries had destroyed all certainty 


THE INFLUENCE OF HIS PHILOSOPHY. 225 


with regard to truth and goodness, and involved the 
moral law in the same doubt and confusion as scientific 
truth. Socrates sought to re-establish the certainty of 
both, and that by joining them together. According 
to him virtue and knowledge were identical. ‘‘ There 
is,” he says, ‘“‘but one good, knowledge; and but one 
evil, ignorance.” He would not allow any speculation 
to interfere with moral obligation, and this led him to 
identify virtue with knowledge. There was no dis- 
tinction in principle between the good and the true. 
There were not two laws, one for the mind and one 
for the will, but only one law. While the Sophists 
had raised the will of the individual to the dignity of 
a law, Socrates sought to bring this subjective law into 
subordination to the objective law of existence. He 
saved philosophy from being:a merely intellectual pur- 
suit by attaching it to the issues of life.“ Such phil- 
osophy was essentially religious. What Cicero de- 
clares in a frequently quoted passage, that ‘“ Socrates 
drew philosophy from heaven to earth,” perfectly 
characterizes his work; for Socrates was the first to 
lead philosophy out of the path of hypothetical specu- 
lation and to make it descend from the mystic heaven 
of the philosophers who_ preceded him, to enter into 
man and to give to him a mind and a conscience; in 
short, to enable him to “‘ know himself.”’ 

The influence of Socrates may be summed up under 
the four following heads: 

ist. fle taught his followers a becoming reverence 
in view of the dignity of the human soul, the power of 
the Supreme Being and the possibility of an eternal 

(76) See De Pressense’s Ancient World and Christianity, pp. 336-364. 


226 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


extstence. He would have no trifling with life or with 
the questions that pertained to it. He was in the most 
serious earnest, listening for some voice which he felt 
sure would be heard some day; looking and waiting 
for some great teacher whom he felt sure would some 
day appear. He himself followed the admonitions of 
what he believed to be a divinity within him, which 
he was never able to describe, but which he claimed 
implicitly to obey. He declared that he submitted 
himself to trial, bore the reproaches of his enemies, and 
would endure cheerfully the sentence of his judges, be- 
cause he had been urged to do so by this divinity, and 
was not willing to offer any attempt at resistance. He 
counseled absolute obedience to the will of the divine 
upon the part of others. He looked with contempt 
upon all arts of human prudence, simply because he 
believed that the divine was leading. He prayed that 
the gods would give him those things which the gods 
themselves believed to be good for him. No wonder 
that a man with such revolutionary views as these 
should have been condemed for what we call in mod- 
ern days ‘‘heresy.” It is not surprising that they 
charged him with corrupting their youth, if to teach 
such views as his cotemporaries were absolutely un- 
able to understand was a species of corruption. But 
meanwhile, as has often been the case, we, standing in 
the clearer light, look back upon him and discern in 
him one immeasurably more reverent than those who 
condemned him. He stands at the beginning of an 
age when, even among the heathen, there were to be 
’ who in their earnest 
struggle after the light and their solemn determination 


found certain ‘“‘ devout persons’ 


THE INFLUENCE OF HIS PHILOSOPHY, 2277 


to keep themselves pure should feel after and at last 
find him who ‘is not far from every one of us.”’ 

2d. He administered a decided check to the ancrent 
polythetsm. It is true he was not able fully to break 
with its superstitions, and he was not wholly free from 
dualism and some other evil forms of the old philos- 
ophy. He seems still to believe in “‘gods many and 
lords many,” yet with him the plurality of gods seems 
to end in unity, and in the “Memorabilia” he distin- 
guishes the Creator of the world from other gods, and 
conceives of him as the soul of the universe after the 
analogy of the body and mind of man.°° The gods 
were but manifestations of the one absolute good, 
which he called, for sake of convenience and because 
the name was familiar to his fellows, ‘““Zezs.” In this 
way he escaped a challenge to the popular faith. Yet, 
from the very uncertainty of his own mind, his posi- 
tion with regard to such matters cannot be accurately 
determined. His teachings, however, certainly carried 
his disciples far beyond the popular superstitions. If 
we endeavor to place ourselves in the position which 
he occupied in the midst of a careless, thoughtless, 
godless age, we shall recognize in him one who with 
the most earnest spirit was still tossed between the 
horns of a dilemma unable to extricate himself, yet 
one in whom a mighty stride was made in the thought 
of the heathen world toward the acknowledgment of 
that ““Unknown God” who was afterwards proclaimed 
in the same city wherein he had taught. ‘Towards 
that Unknown God he set the human intellect in mo- 
tion. This is all proved by the simple testimony of 

(27) Zeller, § 33. 


228 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


Xenophon, who says: “Socrates, by his moral in- 
quiries, was the first to instruct his disciples in the 
true nature of the gods’”—by which he doubtless 
meant the Divine Power which rules the world.®) 

3d. He tnculcated a distinct hope of tmmortality. 
Flis tone was not absolutely confident, yet his argu- 
ments were such as to silence forever the disciples of 
nihilism, while his resignation in the approach of death 
comforted and confirmed his own. Some have thought 
that the last direction.which he gave to his followers 
to sacrifice a cock to the god of healing implied some- 
thing much deeper than appeared upon the surface, 
—that it was not intended to be a recognition of 
the divinity of Esculapius; but that it implied an ex- 
pectation of spiritual health reserved for him beyond 
the grave—a health never to be broken by sickness 
nor by death. 

It must be confessed with regard to this doctrine 
of immortality that the philosophy of Socrates was a 
tremendous “/F,” but even so that “If” was a blessed 
one. It expressed hopeful inquiry rather than de- 
spairing doubt. It represented not the departure from 
faith, but the approach thereto. It was the twilight 
not of the setting, but of the rising sun. As a prep- 
aration for the promulgation of that “ blessed hope” 
its value can not be overestimated. 

4th. He gave supreme importance and a supreme 
Place to the human conscience. We might almost call 
him the ‘“ Discoverer of the conscience.” He taught 
that a man must manifest an immovable fidelity to his 
convictions, and he himself set the example to his dis- 

(2°) See Ritter; Book WITS chs! 


BIS ENGI OLN GES OLMIS PAILOSOPAT, 229 


ciples. Upon the other hand he probed the conceited 
‘and shallow and led them to expose themselves, and 
thus brought about that self-judgment which was 
necessary in order to prepare men for the statements 
of the gospel and to show them their need of a Saviour. 
“The wise question,” said Socrates, ‘is half of knowl- 
edge. A life without cross-examination is no life at 
all.” 

It thus appears that the great vocation to which 
Socrates was called was to make the world feel an 
anxiety for something which had not as yet been sup- 
plied, by developing aspirations and emphasizing needs 
which heathenism, even in its best forms, was unable 
to satisfy. He read the law which St. Paul declares 
was ‘written upon the heart.” His doctrine filled a 
place analagous to that of the Mosaic law, though 
vastly inferior to it.. It had the same relation to his 
people which the doctrine of Moses had to his. It was 
a ‘“School-master to bring them to Christ.” 

During his last days he spoke to his disciples of one 
for whose coming he had long looked and whom he called 
“The Charmer.’”’ Founded upon this incident Mrs. 
Stowe has written the following beautiful poem : 


We need some Charmer, for our hearts are sore 
With longings for the things that may not be— 

Faint for the friends that shall return no more, 
Dark with distrust, or wrung with agony. 


What is this life? And what to us is death? 

Whence came we? Whither go? And where are those 
Who in a moment, stricken from our side, 

Passed to that land of shadow and repose? 


Are they all dust? And dust must we become? 
Or are they living in some unknown clime? 


230 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


Shall we regain them in that far-off home, 
And live anew beyond the waves of time? 


Oh man divine! on thee our souls have hung; 
Thou wert our teacher in these questions high; 
But ah! this day divides thee from our side, 
And veils in dust thy kindly guiding eye.” 


So spake the youth of Athens, weeping round, 
When Socrates lay calmly down to die— 
So spake the sage, prophetic of the hour, 
When earth’s fair Morning Star should rise on high 


They found him not, those youths of soul divine— 
Long seeking, wandering, watching on life’s shore; 
Reasoning, aspiring, yearning for the light, 
Death came and found them—doubting as before. 


But years passed on, and lo! the Charmer came; 
Pure, silent, sweet as comes the silver dew; 
And the world knew him not—he walked alone 

Encircled only by. his trusting few. 


Like the Athenian sage-—rejected, scorned, 

Betrayed, condemned, his day of doom drew nigh; 
He drew his faithful few more closely round, 

And told them that 4zs hour was come to die. 


“ Let not your heart be troubled,” then he said; 

«« My Father’s house has mansions large and fair; 
I go before you to prepare your place; 

I will return to take you with me there.” 


And since that hour the awful foe is charmed, 
And life and death are glorified and fair; 

Whither he went we know—the way we know, 
And with firm step press on to meet him there. 


THE SUCCESSORS OF SOCRATES.—PLATO. 


The mission of Socrates did not end with his death. 
He committed his doctrines to certain disciples in whom 
it was to take ona systematic form. In passing to 


THE SUCCESSORS OF SOCRATES. 231 


Plato, then, we are still under the influence of 
Socrates. We scarcely know whether the one 
is speaking to us or the other—though the pupil 
is the more speculative philosopher. But there is 
an elevated tone in the system of Plato, so that 
turn where we will in his immortal productions, we 
find ourselves in the lofty regions of the spiritual alti- 
tudes, and breathe their bracing atmosphere. The 
philosophy of Plato was a school in which not only many 
heathen were led towards the fold of the Gospel, but 
also not a few who were born and reared under Chris- 
tian influences. No work of any heathen writer has 
been so much admired as his ‘‘ Republic,” and the des- 
cription of “the just man” which he gives, is the 
most remarkable of all uninspired description of char- 
acter. He says, ‘“‘ This must be our notion of the just 
man, that even when he is in poverty or sickness or 
any other seeming misfortune, all things will in the end 
work together for good to him in life and death, for 
the gods have a care of any one whose desire is to be- 
come just and to be god-like, as far as man can attain 
his likeness by the pursuit of virtue.” Again, ‘‘ No 
man but an utter fool and coward is afraid of death 
itself; but he is afraid of doing wrong, for to go to the 
world below having a soul which is like a vessel full 
of injustice is the last and worst of all evils.” Again, 
“The next best thing to a man being just, is that he 
should become just and be chastised and punished.” 

But it is true of Plato as it was of Socrates that he 
only approached but never reached the religious con- 


(29) Republic, § 613. 
(30) See Ancient World and Christianity, 368. Beginnings of Christi- 
anity, p. 147. 


232 THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. 


ceptions either of the Old Testament or of the New. 
The god of Plato never attains to true being. He is 
at once universal and impersonal. Although when he 
enters into relation with man he seems to act as if he 
were endowed with personality, yet he is only a sub- 
lime idea—absolute reason and goodness, and never 
enters into actual communication with men.®» Indeed 
the conception of Plato presents a sad blemish in its 
persistent dualism. God is represented as eternally 
bound to undisciplined matter, which he did not pro- 
duce and which he cannot destroy. There results a 
diversity, an incoherence in the universe, which is never 
subdued. Evil underlies the fairest creation, and wher- 
ever good abounds, evil the more multiplies. His 
whole system, taking character from this formative 
idea, was faulty and misleading. His notion of sin was 
that our actual condition is only one of decadence, 
natural not moral. It was the result of the conditions 
of our life in which there was an admixture of the con- 
tingent and material element. It was the necessity 
imposed upon it by our existence as finite beings. 
Therefore, while Plato seems to feel the need of a 
redemption, his conception of its nature is radically 
defective. He knows of no moral redemption, but only 
of one wherein the soul is purified from the pollution 
which is supposed to be connected with its material 
surroundings. ‘The redemption is therefore intellect- 
ual rather than spiritual. The following language is 
his own illustration of his teaching: 


“ Behold human beings living in an underground den, which 
has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the 


(31) Ritter, B. viii, ch, 3. 


THE SUCCESSORS OF SOCRATES. 233 


den. They have been here from their childhood and have their 
legs and their necks chained so that they cannot move and can 
only see before them, but the chains are arranged in such a 
manner as to prevent them from turning their heads. Above 
and behind them the light of a fire is blazing at a distance. 
They see only their own shadows or the shadows of one another 
which the fire throws on the opposite side of the wall.” 


The escape from this condition was to be found in 
the study of philosophy. Plato attempted to demon- 
strate that the philosopher might be brought at last 
to the place where he could realize the good as well 
as admire it. 

While, therefore, this philosophy was sadly, pitiably 
unsatisfactory, it gathered up the noblest elements in 
the thought of those that had preceded it to purify and 
harmonize them. Plato in formulizing his system car- 
ried on and completed the work of Socrates. The 
voice of conscience still reverberated in the human 
heart, and while Greece would not listen to Socrates 
it learned to listen to Plato. For while his revolution 
was austere in thought it was conveyed in language so 
beautiful that a nation of artists like the Greeks were 
diverted by the beauty of its form to listen to the teach- 
ing of its substance. Socrates had cut the tables of the 
law in granite. Plato inscribed them upon the purest 
of white marble, carved them in the most artistic let- 
ters, and caught thereby the gaze of the world. 


mutts Lok ©) Ue Ee; 


Plato was succeeded in turn by Aristotle. His pecu- 
liar work was still further to elaborate the method of 
philosophy and to originate its nomenclature. While 


(38) Zeller, § 47. Republic, 514. 


234. THE GREAT INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION. © 


he followed Plato in some particulars, his philosophy 
was largely a departure from the doctrine of his 
teacher. We shall not be able to follow him in any 
analysis of his system. It is sufficient to say with re- 
gard to him, as we have found it necessary to say both 
of Plato and Socrates (and as we are bound to say of 
all the other great thinkers of the ancient world), that 
since the Unknown God was not revealed to him as a 
personal creator he made shipwreck upon the rock of 
dualism. It was impossible for any one untaught by the 
Spirit of God to reconcile mind and matter, or to ex- 
plain the conflict between good and evil, even though 
he lived in that wonderful city wherein the develop- 
ment of the human mind reached its highest point. 
Athens herself must wait for the coming of the apostle 
of him for whom her philosophers had prepared the 
way, with his inspired statement: ‘Whom therefore 
ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you. God 
that made the world and all things therein!” 

Still there had been accomplished, under the direc- 
tion of divine providence, a great intellectual revolu- 
tion, and not Athens only, but the world, was made 
ready to receive the doctrine to the borders of which 
the mind had now been brought. 


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CHAPTER IX. 


THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


Before proceeding to the substance of the present 
chapter, let us give good heed to the nature of the pe- 
riod which we have now reached. Through the exten- 
sion of the Greek colonies we have observed a language 
spreading over the world, which was at once the most 
flexible in form, the most beautiful in sound and the 
most impressive in meaning which the world had ever 
known. We must give due emphasis to the fact that 
this language was not to receive a second and wider 
distribution until there had been imported into it cer- 
tain forms of speech and certain technical words relat- 
ing to God, the soul and immortality, whose use had 
become general and whose meaning was therefore 
familiar and which would thereby be adapted to the 
purpose of Christ and the work of his Apostles. 

We have therefore observed the rise of certain phil- 
osophers without whom the conscience of the heathen 
world would have been apparently overwhelmed. We 
have given some attention to the work of these great 
thinkers. We have observed the course of early Greek 
philosophy in its first rebellion against polytheism 
and its first deflection toward the hidden truth which 
was believed to lie in some monotheistic formula. 
We have seen how in their groping after truth these 
philosophers were arrayed one against another so that 
their systems became mutually contradictory and 


238 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


destructive. Our attention has been directed to the 
rise of that philosophy which succeeded, and we have 
observed that upon his death the influence of the Socra- 
tic system was deeply impressed upon his age and 
country. We have seen that his disciples manifested 
a remarkable fidelity to his teachings, and that there 
arose a succession of pagan prophets at whose call the 
world awoke to some knowledge of its condition and 
under whose teaching its moral sense was quickened. 
But, so far, all this is local; and except the influence 
can be in some way extended it may also be exceed- 
ingly short-lived. What remains, therefore, to be done 
in order that the effects which have been produced 
may be indefinitely extended and that thus the way of 
the coming Lord may be the more completely prepared? 

It appears to us as we review the events of that age 
like the movement of a most magnificent drama whose 
stage is the whole civilized earth, whose actors are the 
most distinguished men that inhabit it; but whose 
master-spirit is the Lord God Almighty himself. The 
empire of ancient thought is in process of reconstruc- 
tion. The Persian empire is also about to be over- 
thrown. The world, both intellectual and political, is 
to be turned upside down, and the preparation of 
providence for the intellectual revolution in the ma- 
turity of the Socratic philosophy is coincident with 
the preparation of providence for the political revolu- 
tion in the rise of the Macedonian power. All things 
are ready and the day of the Lord is hastening on. 
Mark the next act— 


EXIT SOCRATES; ENTER ALEXANDER! 


Socrates had been dead forty-four years; Plato was 
an old man of seventy-two; Aristotle was just apprach- 
ing the full development of his intellectual powers, 
when he appeared who was to be their conscious agent 
in the dissemination of their doctrines, and thus the 
unconscious agent in preparing the way of the Gospel. 

Alexander was born July, B. C. 356. It has been 
often remarked by historians, that upon the very night 
of his birth the great temple of Diana at Ephesus was 
destroyed by fire. It is not strange that the student of 
providential history, who has learned to connect the 
spread of the Greek language with the proclamation of 
the Gospel, and who remembers the history of the 
subsequent apostolic struggle with the votaries of 
Diana, in the city of Ephesus, should see in the 
coincidence of these two events something more than 
a mere coincidence. Ephesus had been untrue to her 
Greek traditions, and her safety had been secured by 
an unworthy alliance with the Persian oppressor Her 
great temple, moreover, was expressive of the blending 
of the licentious Asiatic mythology with the purer 
faith of the ancient Hellenes. 

It is, to say the least, very striking that the conqueror 
of the Persian Empire, by whom Greek influences were 
to be diffused throughout the whole earth, should have 
been born at the very moment when the greatest of all 
Asiatic temples was burning to the ground. 

As the way had been prepared for Socrates and the 
great intellectual revolution which followed him, so also 
the way had been prepared for Alexander and the 
great political revolution by which he was to be 


240 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


followed. The course of providence in the one case is 
no more remarkable than in the other. 
The preparation for the coming of Alexander was 
two-fold. In Greece the way had been made plain 
before him by the long continuance of internal dissen- 
sions and civil conflicts which had exhausted the 
energies of the country and rendered her a compara- 
tively easy prey to the more sturdy and aggressive 
warriors of the north. When Philip of Macedon came 
to the throne his country was still one of the weakest 
of the states which bordered upon Greece, and the 
Greeks anticipated but little danger from their neigh- 
bor. But in the year B. C. 358, following that of the 
accession of Philip, the culminating point in Athenian 
prosperity was reached. Athens had succeeded in 
recovering certain provinces which had been wrested 
from her by the Theban Epaminondas, but the revolt 
of a considerable number of her more distant allies 
wrought great injury to her power, cost her the 
services of several of her best generals, exhausted her 
means and permanently diminished her resources. This 
war, by diverting her attention from her ambitious 
neighbor upon the north, permitted Philip to absorb 
certain other provinces almost without resistance. 
Finally when Thebes called Philip to her assistance, in 
order that she might wreak vengeance upon Athens, 
she purchased the destruction of her enemy at the cost 
of her own ruin, and of the subjugation of Greece in 
general. The subsequent career of Philip was exceed- 
ing rapid, and at last the victory of Cheroneia (B. C. 
338) exalted him to supreme power. All the Greek 
states, with the exception of Sparta, acknowledged his 


i a ine or 


WaAdtl MOCRATES, ENTER ALEXANDER: 241 


supremacy and were absorbed into the Macedonian 
monarchy. In the next year Philip was appointed 
generalissimo of all the forces of united Greece. The 
headship of the kingdom of Macedon was admitted and 
confirmed, and it became in ‘consequence the leading 
military power in Europe. Thus was the way made 
ready for the coming of the great conqueror. 

In like manner also the way was prepared for 
Alexander in Asia. The Persian empire, although it 
extended over an immense territory, was very loosely 
held together. It had never been unified. Its prov- 
inces were a mere aggregation of separate states with 
no strong feeling of nationality. Its integrity had been 
preserved for several generations by no other force 
than that of its own inertia. Its great size, its rich 
resources and its huge army had for a long time 
served to overawe its subject states, and convey to 
their citizens a false idea of its permanence and power. 
The Greeks, however, were not deceived by these 
things. For nearly one hundred years they had been 
conversant with the inherent weakness of the Persian 
power. The expedition of the ‘“‘Ten Thousand” had 
fully confirmed their theories, and the Greeks had been 


taught that the very capital of the great empire might 
be easily reached by well-disciplined troops who would 
find no really formidable foes, however great their 
numbers, throughout its entire extent. 

Meanwhile the student will observe the wonderful 
manner in which Greece had been preserved from in- 
vasion and foreign domination. She had successfully 
resisted repeated attempts of the ‘“‘Great King” to 
' bring her under his yoke, and notwithstanding her 


242 THE HELLENIZING. OF THE NATIONS. 


many internal dissensions she had been ruled by no 
alien power previous to the time of Philip of Macedon. 
The Persian defeats, moreover, while promoting the 
self-confidence of the Greeks, on the one hand, minis- 
tered to the humiliation of the great empire, teaching 
her the unusual prowess and skill of her European 
enemies, and leading all her allies to stand in whole- 
some dread of them. Greek colonists, indeed, had long 
been the only warriors upon whom the Persian king 
could safely depend, and when they should turn against 
him, his final defeat was assured. ‘The Europeans were 
thus apprised of the exact situation, and were already 
assured that in any fair contest with those whom they 
regarded as the barbarians of Asia, they would ces 
tainly prove invincible. At such conclusions the: 
Greeks had arrived even before the coming of Philip 
Philip himself had adopted them, and they were passed 
over in turn to Alexander, by whom they were to be 
carried to actual fulfillment. 


» 


ACCESSION OF ALEXANDER. 


Such was the condition of Greece and Persia when 


in the year 336 Philip was assassinated and Alexander 


ascended the throne. He passed at once into the pos- 


session of his father’s accumulated resources. ‘The 


chief of these, and the one upon which Alexander’s. 
success the most largely depended, was the magnificent 
military establishment of Macedon, the finest in per- 
sonnel and equipment which the world had ever seen. 
The Macedonian army was not large. Indeed, in 
comparison with the alrmost countless hosts of the 


(1) See Grote’s History of Greece, xcil. 


ACCESSION OF ALEXANDER. 243 


Persian king, it seems quite insignificant, but its mem- 
bers were thoroughly disciplined and armed with 
special weapons which the father of Alexander had 
himself invented. The military system built up by 
Philip embodied the results of a series of improvements 
which had been made by various Grecian commanders 
during a number of generations. For half a century 
at least before the accession of Alexander the art of 
war had made conspicuous progress, chiefly in Mace- 
don. Demosthenes, in an address to the Athenian 
people, twenty-five years before Alexander came to the 
throne, directed their attention to the fact that whereas 
in former times the armies of Greece had not been ac- 
customed to invade each other’s territory in the winter 
season, but only during four or five summer months, 
when their troops could be the more easily moved 
from place to place, Philip was in constant action 
both winter and summer, attacking all the enemies 
which were round about him with weapons and 
engines of various kinds, which, because they were of 
recent invention, his enemies were not prepared to en- 
counter.) 

The army with which Alexander invaded Asia 
amounted, according to Grote, to about 34,500 men, 
of whom 4,500 were cavalry. The most important 
portion of this army belonged to the so-called Mace- 
donian phalanx, and numbered about 24,000 men. 
The phalanx was the invention of Philip. The weapon 
with which they were armed first appears in his army. 
It is called the sar¢ssa or Macedonian pike. It was 
used both by the infantry and cavalry, though in the 


(2) Philippic III. (3) Chap. xcii. 


244 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATICNS: 


case of the former it was much longer and heavier 
than in that of the latter. The pike carried by the 
infantry was not less than 21 feet long. It was so 
heavy and unwieldy that it could not be handled by 
any soldier except after a long period of special train- 
ing in its use. Its extraordinary length and weight 
account for the special power and remarkable success 
of the Macedonian army. The phalanx was drawn up 
in successive files, 16 feet deep in all; there being an 
interval of three feet .between each rank. When the 
pike was held in horizontal position, carried in both 
hands as no other such weapon had been carried 
before, it projected 15 feet before the body of the pike- 
man. It will thus be observed that the weapons of the 
second rank of soldiers projected 12 feet beyond the 
front rank and those of the third rank nine feet, while 
the pikes of five successive ranks of soldiers were pre 
sented to the opposing army at once. ‘The ranks which 
followed behind the fifth served to sustain the soldiers 
in’ the front ranks. They carried their pikesmamume 
slanting position so as to protect the men from any 
darts or arrows which might be discharged against 
them, and meanwhile the members of the rear ranks 
were ready to take the place of any who might fall in 
the ranks before them. 

It will be readily perceived that a body of cavalry 
could make no headway whatsoever against such a 
forest of spears as would thus be presented to them; 
while a body of infantry would be as helpless as a 
company of modern soldiers, armed only with the old- 
fashioned musket, confronted by a force carrying the 
best of magazine rifles. 


Ph wow 5 ap ene 


e . 
4 


cal he term my 


LHE CONQUESTS OF ALEXANDER. 245 


‘These soldiers were also armed with a short sword 
and a circular shield about two feet in diameter, and 
were well protected by suitable armor. They were 
thus not obliged to depend entirely on their pikes, and 
in close hand to hand conflict they might be abandoned. 
The phalanx thus constituted proved invincible. It 
was never overcome by any enemy until the times of 
the Romans, whose superior military tactics and rapid 
movement prevailed against soldiers armed with too 
heavy a weapon to encounter them. 


Pie CONQUEST SSOP TAL EOCANDER: 


Furnished with this splendid military establishment 
Alexander laid his plans of conquest. He inherited his 
father’s purpose of invading Asia and humiliating the 
Persian king. His dominating idea was revenge for the 
invasion of Greece by Xerxes and the liberation of the 
Asiatic Greeks long held in bondage by the barbarian 
tyrant. 

With this determination the invasion of Asia was 
undertaken. The campaigns of Alexander in Greece 
previous to his departure had so far instructed its 
states concerning his power and spirit that they were 
not likely to rise in revolt, and while they were not in 
sympathy with the man and would not have regretted 
the miscarriage of his personal plans of conquest, they 
were deeply interested in the object of his invasion, and 
desired as truly as he the liberation of the members of 
their own race who had settled in Asia Minor. 

In the spring of B. C. 334 Alexander crossed the 
Hellespont. His succeeding course was that of a whirl- 
wind. ‘The entire period of his reign was only twelve 


246 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NALIONS. 


years; but although his career was so rapid and his 
conquests so extended, he executed his designs with 
rare foresight and displayed the master hand of the 
statesman, as well as the controlling force of the con- 
queror. 

The passage of the straits was not disputed by the 
Persians. Although the Persian fleet was not far dis- 
tant and might at least have rendered the undertaking 
exceedingly doubtful, Darius seems to have been under 
the control of some unpropitious genius, for he not only 
displayed strange indifference to the nature of the 
situation, but even rejected the advice of those who 
distinctly apprehended it. The plans of his great 
general, Memnon, a Rhodian Greek, were disregarded, 
and Alexander was permitted to establish himself on 
Asiatic soil without resistance. Providence unquestion- 
ably was in the lead, preparing the way to victory in 
order to the accomplishment of the great redemptive 
plan. 

The first engagement upon the river Granicus, in 
Phrygia, resulted in an overwhelming Macedonian 
victory. The slaughter of the Persians was great, 
while Alexander’s losses were extremely slight. 

A second battle at Issus in Cilicia resulted in a 
second victory. Alexander now refused to follow the 
Persian king for reasons which seemed unintelligible 
even to his own soldiers, but which nevertheless dis- 
played a wise and far-seeing policy. He preferred to 
let his enemy escape and reorganize his forces while he 
himself utilized his victory in another way. His design 
was to obtain command of the sea before proceeding to 
further conflicts upon land. This would render him 


INFLUENCE OF ALEXANDER. ; 247 


absolutely secure at home, and permit him to be undis- 
turbed by any troubles in the rear while pursuing his 
Asiatic campaigns. He therefore turned aside and 
proceeded along the coast of the Mediterranean, 
reducing the states that opposed him. After long 
sieges, even the strongholds of Tyre and Gaza were 
obliged to submit, and Alexander passed on_ into 
Egypt. Returning thence and retracing his steps he 
marched through Palestine and Syria by way of 
Damascus, crossed the Euphrates and fought the de- 
cisive battle of Arbela. This gave him control of the 
entire Persian empire. He immediately took possession 
of Babylon, and soon after Persepolis and Pasargade 
fell into his hands. He thence pursued the Persian 
king into Parthia, where the fugitive was murdered in 
order that he might not fall into the hands of his con- 
queror. ‘Thence Alexander marched east and south 
through Persia, Sogdiana and Bactriana until the 
Macedonian troops, refusing to go further, he turned 
back and moved down the Indus to the Sea. Thence 
he returned through Susa to Babylon, where he died 
pepe Br C. 


INBEL UENCE OF TALE XANDER. 


Historians have ever remarked that the larger 
influence of Greece upon the world begins with the 
destruction of Greek independence. As Dean Stanley 
remarks, ‘“‘ Grecian history died with Alexander, but 
Grecian influence was created by him.”® Hellas 
ceased, but hellenism began its great career. 

Alexander himself claimed to be a true Greek, and 


(4) History of the fewish Church, M11: 261. 


248 THE HELLENIZING CF THE NATIONS. 


in the most important aspects of his character he cer- 
tainly was one. His Greek spirit dates back to his 
early education. His ancestors were emigrants from 
Argos, and this fact alone was calculated to inspire in 
the mind of the growing boy an affection for all that 
belonged to the classic country. In early childhood he 
was taught to read the Iliad of Homer, and throughout 
most of his life he retained a strong interest in the 
poem. It is said that he carried with him a copy cor- 
rected by Aristotle through his Asiatic campaigns. 
While he was in upper Asia he directed one of his 
governors to send some books to him, and received in 
answer various tragedies of A&schylus, Sophocles and 
Euripides, together with the works of other Greek 
poets.© This love for the Greek classics was due to 
his early training. Even asa child he was taught to 
identify himself with Achilles, from whom the legend 
of his mother’s house declared that he was descended. 
His tutor, Lysimachus, was accustomed to call him 
Achilles, and his father Peleus, so that even in boy: 
hood his mind was saturated with the old Greek 
traditions and the spirit of its early military exploits. 

At the age of thirteen Alexander was placed under 
the instruction of Aristotle whom Philip invited to his 
capital for this express purpose. The father of 
Aristotle before him had been the friend and physician 
of the father of Philip. For three years Alexander sat 
at the feet of the great Athenian’philosopher. He be- 
came devotedly attached to him, and was a willing 
pupil. His teacher had examined the political con- 
stitutions of many states, and brought together a vast | 


(5) Grote, xCiv. (6) Grote, xc. 


INFLUENCE OF ALEXANDER. 249 


mass of facts and observations in physical science. 
The young Macedonian prince was thus awakened to 
the knowledge of the wonderful world which lay before 
him, and to the superiority of the Greek civilization. 
Thus, while he was not himself a native Greek, his 
spirit was hellenic to the full, and his intelligence and 
combining genius were Greek. His disposition indeed, 
and the methods wereby he executed his purposes, 
were oriental; violent, impulsive and exacting to a 
degree which the Greek race had never known. The 
Greeks themselves did not regard him with personal 
favor, and manifested no public interest in his victories. 
Nevertheless, he shared their sentiments, adopted 
their principles and became their most distinguished 
representative.” 

Before disembarking for Asia he separated from his 
army at Sestos and proceeded down the Chersonese 


peninsula to its southern extremity, at Eleus. This 
was for the purpose of visiting the shrine of the hero 
Protesalaus, the first Greek who touched the shore of 
Troy to undertake the siege of the city, and who was 
‘afterwards slain by Hector. | Alexander offered sac- 
rifice to the shade of the hero and prayed the gods 
that his own disembarkation might terminate more 
auspiciously. ‘Thence crossing the strait he steered 
his trireme with his own hand to the landing place 
near Ilium (Troy). In the middle of the channel he 
sacrificed a bull, and poured out libations from a golden 
goblet to Neptune. Dressed in complete armor he was 


(7) The well known story of Alexander and Diogenes may also be 
recalled in this connection. 


(8) See Wordsworth’s Laodameza. 


250 THE HEGLLENIZING OF LTA NALIONS. 


himself the first, like Protesalaus, to set foot upon the 
shore of Asia. Proceeding from the beach to the hill 
upon which [lium was placed he sacrificed to its patron 
goddess Athene. He deposited in her temple a portion 
of his own armor, and took in exchange some of the 
arms said to have been worn by the heroes in the 
Trojan war, and these he carried with him during his 
subsequent campaigns. He placed a decorative garland 
on the column of Achilles, whom, as we have seen, he 
claimed as his ancestor,.and declared that he envied - 
the lot of the great hero who had been blessed during | 
his life with a faithful friend and after his death witha 
great poet to celebrate his exploits. Finally he erected 
permanent altars to Zeus, Athene and Hercules, both 
on the point of Europe where his army had embarked, 
and on that of Asia where it had landed. This will be 
sufficient to indicate to the student the Greek spirit of 
the man who now enters upon the most important ex- 
pedition which Europeans had ever undertaken in Asia, 
and the one most fruitful in results. 

When now we review these labored efforts of the 
great Macedonian to proclaim his Grecian devotion and 
to impress his own command with the sincerity of his 
Greek intentions, we cannot repress our imagination 
as it runs forward nearly four hundred years, through 


"many providential scenes and circumstances, and return- 


ing to the same spot attaches itself to the incoming of 
that retluent tide in which, after so many generations, 
appeared the great providential interpretation of the 
mission of Alexander. We remember how Paul the 
Apostle was driven of the Spirit to the West until he 
too came to the Hellespont, at the very point where 


INFLUENCE OF ALEXANDER. Qo'T 


EX 


Alexander crossed its waters.©) We remember that 
he there beheld in vision, not a Greek, but a “man of 
Macedonia,” who cried to him for deliverance, as the 
colonists of Asia Minor had formerly cried across the 
straits to those upon the further shore. We 
remember that in answer to the cry he embarked, to 
wage a better warfare, to win more glorious victories, 
and to add new territory to the dominion of the King 
of kings. Thus, as Alexander moved east for the 
hellenizing of Asia, Paul moved west for the Christian- 
izing of Europe; and when the lines crossed at Troas 
providence was at last made plain as though the very 
finger of God had been visibly laid upon the spot. 

In his progress through Asia Minor Alexander was 
met by the citizens of the old Greek colonies, who 
hailed his approach as that of a deliverer, and true to 
his spirit and guiding purpose he restored to them 
their liberties. Similar results followed his invasion cf 
Egypt. Here he founded the city of Alexandria, the 
most memorable act in its consequences in his whole 
life. His influence upon the Greek colonies of Africa 
was similar to that which appeared in the Greek 
colonies of Asia Minor. It resulted in the re-awaken- 
ing of their old national spirit. ‘Thence proceeding to 
the east the great conqueror extended the influence of 
Greek civilization throughout the entire region which 
he subdued. On his march through Syria, Mesopotamia 
and Persia he left behind him as the monuments of his 
personal influence, according to Plutarch, a cordon of 
seventy cities which he had either founded or in part 
colonized.“® Some of them were doubtless mere mil- 


(9) Acts xvi: 6-9. (10) See Ency. Britt., Art. “ Macedonian Empire.” 


252 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


itary posts, yet they served for centuries as centers of 
Greek learning.“) He determined in so far-as possible 
to supplant the races which he subjugated with a race 
which should be Greek, or at least whose controlling 
spirit should be Greek. He prevailed on eighty of his _ 
Macedonian officers to take Persian wives, and obliged 
ten thousand Macedonian soldiers to follow their 
example. Thus even in his life time the east began to 
be hellenized. 


SUCGCEEDINGSERRECTS. 


The more important results of his invasion, however, — 
appeared after his death, and although he was not per- 
sonally responsible for them, he must certainly be re- 
garded as their chief instrumental cause. ‘The opening 
of the eastern world afforded an outlet for the swarm- 
ing population of Greece and her contiguous colonies. 
A vast influx of emigrants followed in the wake of the 
conqueror. They pressed closely upon his heels, and 
it was two hundred years before their numbers matert- 
ally declined.“ 

The Greek civilization thus introduced into Asia 
was not to be withdrawn. When Alexander crossed 
the Hellespont it meant that the nations of the world 
were to become a Greek-speaking people, and two 
hundred years should be given them in which to learn 
the language and become familiar with its use before 
the message of salvation was promulgated. ‘These 
nations were also to become infected with Greek ideas 
—to be, in a word, hellenized. We can therefore 


(11) Grote; xciv. 
(12) History of the Romans under the Empire , Merivale; xxix ch. 


SUCCEEDING EFFECTS. 253 


scarcely estimate the vast results of the conquests of 
Alexander. The east and west, heretofore so widely 
separated, were brought together, and that in some- 
thing far better and stronger than an empire of force. 
The tribes of three continents were first embraced 
under one government in order to be afterwards 
unified in one civilization. The very Euphrates be- 
came a Greek river, and in the hitherto disordered but 
now regulated meshes of Greek civilization the whole 
world was enclosed as fish in a great net. 

It seems to the student of history as though all 
Asia and the larger part of northern Africa gladly 
adopted the Greek civilization, and as though one 
state vied with another in the adoption of Greek in- 
stitutions. ‘The influence was felt even in distant 
Bactria and Parthia. The Greek language took root 
among the barbarous tribes on the confines of civili- 
zation and transformed them. Its subtle influence 
was exerted over the rude nations which migrated to 
the regions under its magic spell. Even the fierce 
Gauls who had settled in Asia Minor succumbed to 
its power, and were subdued and softened. Galatia 
adopted the customs of the conqueror, and we should 
scracely recognize in the kindly people of Paul’s epis- 
tle, who would have plucked out their own eyes for 
his sake,“ the kindred of those intrepid barbarians 
whom Cesar encountered in his memorable campaigns 
in European Gaul. 

But still more; the coming of the Greek in power ex- 
erted a mighty influence in overturning the superstitious 
systems of the age. The Greek was a freeman, and his 


(13) Galatians iv: 15. 


254 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NALIONS. 


freedom was characterized by an intellectual breadth 
of which the East had never dreamed. He had no 
systems of caste, no close priesthood, no sacred books, 
nor other such institutions as had long enslaved the 
minds of his eastern subjects. His coming, therefore, 
infused that self-respect and awakened those aspira- 
tions without which there never can be any progress. 
The human intellect under his leadership became 
everywhere a thing of life, capable of growth and de- 
velopment. He taught the world to think. 

But the conquests of Alexander were not without 
their influence upon the Greeks themselves. Hitherto 
it must be remembered that while Greece had pro- 
duced many distinguished warriors she had produced 
no great conqueror. ‘The Greeks had been colonists 
from the beginning, but wherever they had gone they 
had for the most part asked the right to exist, and 
were therefore dependent upon the forbearance of their 
neighbors. They had not been accustomed to mingle 
freely with the men of other races, and in consequence 
despised them, as the weak but wise always despise 
the strong but ignorant. Until the time of Alexander 
the distinction between Greek and barbarian was 
sacredly observed even by the best of men. Socrates 
himself thanked God daily that he was a man, not a 
brute; ‘male; not female; Greek, not barbarianieaisoe 
the extension of Greek influence following the con- 
quests of Alexander, simply because it took on a new 
form wherein the Greek was both wise and strong, 
broke down many ‘a wall of partition.” Old dis- 
tinctions began to disappear, and the Greek himself 
became a cosmopolite. Greek scholars began to think 


DIVISION OF HIS EMPIRE—RESULTS. 255 


it worth their while to travel through other nations 
for the study of their institutions, and thus the history 
of the South and East—Egypt, Pheenicia, and Baby- 
lon—was written by Greek authors for Greek readers, 
and the character of the people and their institutions 
were made known at the centers of civilization. The 
results were most beneficent. Reciprocal sentiments 
of respect were gradually promoted and the way pre- 
pared for the introduction of a gospel which revealed 
a common master before whom all men were brethren. 


DIVISION OF HIS EMPIRE.—RESULTS. 


The prophet Daniel, as we shall observe more par- 
ticularly in the next chapter, had foreseen the division 
of Alexander’s empire in the vision which was af- 
forded him in Babylon.*® The third beast which he 
saw coming out of the sea had four wings upon its 
back and was provided with four heads. <A glance at 
any historical atlas is sufficient to exhibit the remark- 
able fulfillment of this vision in history. Here is Lab- 
berton, for example, in whose map we at once perceive 
the four great portions to have been Macedonia, Thrace, 
Syria, and Egypt; and although there were at the first 
three other minor states, they were so insignificant 
that Labberton does not give to any of them a dis- 
tinctive color. They had no power; they exercised 
no political influence. The divisions of Alexander’s 
kingdom were substantially four in number. 

The providential reason for the dismemberment of 
Alexander’s empire is sufficiently clear. The time had 
not yet arrived for the unification of the world, which 


(14) Daniel, ch. vii. 


256 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


must be accomplished before the coming of the Re- 
deemer. Another work had yet to be performed, the 
work which Alexander had begun, but which was as 
yet unfinished. “hat work could be better promoted 
in the mutual and wholesome emulation of rival states 
than under a single central government in which those 
states were united. Had there been but a single great 
empire, there would have been but a single center of 
predominating influence. However large the popula- 
tion of other cities might have become, the capital city 
would have been the one whose life and thought gave 
character to the whole. But in the divisions of the 
empire several great centers existed, each one of them 
a magnificent city, built by imperial power and fur- 
nished with imperial magnificence; each a Greek city, 
the center of hellenizing influences. Thus from these 
separate independent centers the work which was con- 
nected with the divine purpose was carried on. 

Thus the hand of providence plainly appears in the 
fact that Alexander was not permitted to carry his 
conquests to the great extent which he himself had 
anticipated. The personal influence of Alexander would 
not have resulted in benefit to the world, but rather 
the reverse. / At the time of his death he was little 
more than 32 years of age. His extraordinary phy- 
sical vigor seems to have been unabated. His cam- 
paigns had brought him increasing experience, his 
appetite for conquest was as great as when he first 
crossed the Hellespont, and he stood ready to purchase 
power at as great anexpenseasever. Stillin his youth, 
and with such increased means and experience, his 
ambition would have been satisfied with nothing short 


——— 


i ee a 


DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE.—RESULTS. 257 


of dominion throughout the entire habitable world, and 
we cannot see any reason why he should not have 
accomplished it. ‘There was nowhere any power capa- 
ble of resisting him. His soldiers were personally 
so attached to him that they were ready to go any- 
where, endure any danger, suffer any hardship, if he 
did but lead them. But had he carried out his plans, 
and achieved the universal dominion which he desired 
his empire, immense and heterogeneous, could not have 
been administered with any advantage to its subjects. 
The mere task of acquiring and maintaining such pos- 
sessions would certainly have occupied his entire 
thought and left no leisure for the arts of peace and 
the improvement of his subjects. 

It is also apparent that while Alexander still main- 
tained his devotion to the Greek traditions, his man- 
ners and tastes became more and more Asiatic as his 
conquests multiplied. He seemed bent upon adopt- 
ing the politics of the Persian empire and parcelling 
out its territory among the Macedonians whom he had 
led to conquest, as so many Persian satraps. Had he 
succeeded his empire would have been composed of an 
ageregation of inharmonious dependencies, like those 
he had subdued, in which the passions of the Asiatic 
would certainly have prevailed over the intellect of the 
Greek. Instead of hellenizing Asia, Europe herself 
would have been Asiatized. As it was, the dismem- 
berment of his empire assured a certain amount of 
Greek homogeneity throughout the conquered provin- 
ces, and invited the coming of those Greek colonists, 
who we have seen followed upon the way which he had 
opened for them into Asia Minor and the east. 


258 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS: 


~ We shall now direct our particular attention to var- 
ious portions of Alexander’s empire in which Greek in- 
fluences became predominant and were most conspicu- 
ous in preparing the way of the Redeemer. 


THE DIADOCHI. 


The process of hellenizing Asia, which began with 
Alexander, was more particularly the work of the 
so-called Diadochi, his royal successors. Conquest 
had indeed prepared the way for them and established 
that military ascendency which rendered. their work 
practicable; but the aspirations of these Diadochi, more 
particularly the Greek kings of Syria and of Egypt, 
were materially different from those of Alexander. 
They had not the same insatiable ambition. They 
gloried not so much in the arts of war. ‘They were 
more closely associated with the European Greeks, and 
they were each obliged, because of mutual rivalries, to 
strengthen themselves in their own possessions. ‘They 
were themselves more intensely Greek than the Mace- 
donian conqueror. It became therefore a matter of 
pride with them to multiply their Greek colonial cen- 
ters, and even to found new Greek cities, many of 
which were called by their own names. ‘The regions 
which they governed became in this way the better 
known to the Greeks at home, and tempted Grecian 
immigrants. So that a very considerable influx of 
hellenic blood was poured into Asia and Africa during 
the century succeeding Alexander. The number of 
Greeks in these countries multiplied rapidly. Greek 
civilization was planted from the shores of the A#gean 
to the banks of the Indus, and from the Caspian to the 


Tre 2 Ai sind eee age erie aoe: “- ¢ 


THE DIADOCHI. 259 


River of Egypt, to exist for nearly a thousand years 
and in its effects to endure forever. In addition to the 
cities which had been founded by Alexander himself 
others were founded or planted with Greek influences 
until the number of important Greek cities in Asia rose 
to more than two hundred. Greek art was trans- 
planted from Athens, and although it acquired a some- 
what florid tinge yet it was not entirely unworthy of 
its descent from the schools of Phidias and Lysippus. 
Attic plays were acted in all the chief cities. Archi- 
tecture assumed a Greek form, though it lost to some 
extent its native dignity. Greek schools were opened 
in all the important centers, including as we particu- 
larly observe, the city of Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, 
and fresh hellenic blood continued to pour into the 
many forms of life throughout all the lands between the 
Tigris and the Mediterranean Sea. 


The Greek spirit thus appeared as forceful as the 
Macedonian arms. The literature and art which grew 
up in separate and distant provinces, while it betrayed 
its native origin was yet largely and successfully 
imitative of the art and literature of Greece. The 
Dying Gladiator, for example, so well known to mod- 
ern art students, was produced at Pergamon in Asia 
Minor.“® It represents, not a gladiator, but a Gaulish 
chieftian, over whom Attalus, king of Pergamon, had 
been victorious. It was so well executed that Attalus 
sent it to Athens, where it was carefully preserved. In 
a later age, also, but still indicating the prevalence of 
Greek influences, we meet with such names as Galen 


G4) See Excy. Brittanica. 


260 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


of Pergamon, Strabo of Amasia, and Epictetus, the 
Phrygian slave. 

These three men—the first a great physician, the 
second a great geographer, and the third a great phil- 
osopher, are but illustrations of the fact that the Greek 
culture of the East was so real and influential as to 
secure due recognition everywhere. ‘There were great 
numbers of such thinkers and workers distributed 
through Asia and northern Africa. Nor were they 
lightly regarded by the Greeks of Greece, as provin- 
cials are too apt to be esteemed by citizens of the 
mother country; but, on the contrary, they were held 
to be as truly sons of the ancestral land as though they 
had been born on the plains of Attica or framed under 
the shadows of the Acropolis. Greece, in fact, in order 
to serve the purposes of the divine providence, was in 
process of dismemberment and the proceeds were dis- 
tributed throughout the earth—Greece was everywhere. 


ANTIOGH ANDTHE EASI- 


In this extension of the Greek power throughout 
Asia, one city arose which was destined to exercise a 
greater influence upon the history of the world than 
any other Greek city in Asia—Antioch upon the 
Orontes. This city was built by Seleucus I., the founder 
of the Syrian monarchy. After the death of Alexan- 
der, Seleucus having passed through various vicissi- 
tudes which we cannot recount, gained possession of 
the government of Babylonia 312 B. C., and from this 
year the Syrian monarchy is reckoned. At the close of a 
successful war in which his rival Antigonus was killed, 
Seleucus obtained all the Asiatic territory which had 


ANTIOCH AND THE BAST. 261 


been conquered by the Greeks, with the exception of 
Lower Syria and Western Asia Minor. After the 
battle of Ipsus, which gave him possession of his terri- 
tory, he determined to found a capital city in North- 
ern Syria. There is something curiously prophetic in 
the stories which are told concerning the building of 
this city.” Seleucus is said to have watched the 
flight of birds from the summit of a neighboring 
mountain. An eagle took a fragment of the flesh 
of his sacrifice and carried it to a point on the sea- 
shore where he first built the city of Seleucia. Soon 
afterwards he repeated the ceremony and watched the 
auguries at the city of Antigonia which his vanquished 
rival Antigonus had begun and left unfinished. An 
eagle again decided that this was not to be his own 
capital, carrying the flesh to the hill on the south side 
of the river, and there Antioch was built. For this 
purpose the city of Antigonus was destroyed and its 
material used in the construction of the new city. 
The wisdom of the king in using this site for his capi- 
tal is readily recognized. It placed him in communi- 
cation both with the shores of Greece and with his 
eastern territories, and he gave himself with enthusi- 
asm to the building and adorning of his capital. It 
grew with great rapidity, so that in the time of Au- 
gustus it embraced four cities in one, the walls being 
successively extended to enclose them.” 

The influential character of the place was established 
from the first. Seleucus by his wise and liberal admin- 
istration made it a most attractive metropolis, his wis- 


) Life and Epistles of St. Paul, Conybeare and Howson, Vol. 1, ch. iv. 
(8) Ency. Britt., Art. “Amzioch,”’ 


262 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


dom, however, being of a worldly and even abandoned 
character. He laid out the grove of Daphne, distant 
four miles from the city, and erected in it a temple of 
Apollo and Diana, to which deities an annual festival 
was held, which was attended by all the people of the 
neighborhood, and many others. In the temple of 
Apollo was a colossal statue of the god, an impression 
of which appears on the coins of the later king, Anti- 
ochus Ephiphanes. The city itself abounded in fine 
buildings, was remarkable for its streets and porticoes 
which were styled “golden,” with reference to the 
splendor of the columns, and perhaps even to the appli- 
cation of gold as their means of ornamentation. The 
roadways were paved with granite. A plentiful sup- 
ply of water for private purposes was furnished from 
wells and fountains, and the public baths were supplied 
by aqueducts, the ruins of one of which is still standing. 

After the conquest of Syria, Antioch became the 
residence of the Roman governors, and the importance 
of the city was increased by the presence of the officials 
who were connected with the details of provincial 
administration. Other luxurious Romans were also 
attracted to its beautiful climate. The commerce of 
the city greatly increased, its houses multiplied, and its 
gardens were extended on the north of the river. There 
are many allusions to Antioch in the history of those 
times as a place of singular pleasure and enjoyment. 
Pompey enlarged the temple of Daphne and conceded 
autonomy to the city. It was visited by Julius Cesar 
in 47 B. C., who was regarded as its benefactor be- 
cause he allowed the town to retain its freedom. He 
also added several public works of importance. ‘The 


ANTIOCH AND THE EAST. 263 


emperor Augustus was particularly favorable towards 
the place because it had espoused his cause in his strug- 
gle for the imperial power. So that in the time of 
Christ this had grown to be the most influential place 
in all Asia in view of the privileges it enjoyed, the com- 
merce it controlled, the pleasures it afforded and its 
peculiar relation to the Roman empire in the East. It 
was populated very much as Rome itself was, with a 
vast assemblage from all lands. In consequence also 
of the magnificence with which the worship of Apollo 
was here celebrated, and the crowd of licentious votaries 
which it attracted, there was no population more aban- 
doned. Heathenism was here exhibited in its most 
resplendent and at the same time its most depraved 
form.) 

It will thus appear that in the founding of this city 
of Antioch the providence of God had provided a place 
in which the best culture of the Greek might be read- 
ily attained by the representatives of his own revela- 
tion. Antioch was on the highway between the Jew- 
ish colonies in Asia Minor and their central sanctuary 
at Jerusalem; and we learn from the Acts of the Apos- 
tles that a large number of Greek Jews had their per- 
manent dwellings there.“? Seleucus himself, with a view 
of enlarging the population of his city at the time of its 
founding, had introduced into it a numerous colony of 
Jews, whom he had encouraged to remain contentedly 
by raising them to an equality of civil rights with the 
Greeks. One of his successors, Antiochus the Great, 
established two thousand Jewish families in the con- 


(9) The reader will find a very accurate and interesting description 
of the city in all its varied life, in the fourth book of “ Ben Hur.’ 
(10) Acts xiii. 


264 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATICNS. 


tiguous territory in Asia Minor. Thus Antioch be- 
came a Jewish center as well as a Greek one,®” and 
it was thus providentially arranged that when the time 
came to promulgate the Gospel to the heathen world, 
Antioch should become the chief missionary center. 
The disciples were called “‘ Christians ” first in Antioch. 

From this city Paul and Barnabas departed and to it 
they returned with their inspiring reports; and the city 
throve as a seat of Christian learning and zeal. Inthe 
time of Diocletian its church numbered 50,000 mem- 
bers—according to the lowest estimate.??” We are 
thus permitted to trace the remarkable providential 
connection between the events which we have sur- 


veyed. 
ALEXANDRIA AND THE SOUTH. 


A. similar providential connection is to be traced 
between the founding of the Greek capital of Egypt 
and the subsequent spread of the Gospel. We shall 
consider in the next chapter the particular influence of 
this event upon the Jew, observing in the present one 
its general hellenistic character. | 

In the little fishing-town of Rhacotis the great Mace- 
donian, with his usual foresight, had foreseen the possi- 
bility of creating a magnificent harbor such as had 
hitherto been lacking along the entire eastern shore of 
the Mediterranean. ‘The low, level reef forming the 
island of Pharos, when connected by the mainland, 
would furnish such a shelter for ships as neither Tyre 
nor Sidon had ever been able to afford. His own mili- 


(20) Stanley, III: 317. 
(21) Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism ,; Ullhorn, p. 402. 


ALEXANDER AND THE SOUTH. 260 


aw 


tary cloak supplied the outline of the city. It was 
built in the form of an open fan, and contained more 
area than Rome herself. Strangely enough Alexan- 
der called to his aid in laying out this capital, Deno- 
crates, the architect of the rebuilt temple of Diana at 
Ephesus, the fame of which had already spread abroad 
through the earth and assigned it a place among the 
‘““seven wonders.’”’ ‘The execution of the plan was 
soon intrusted to this celebrated builder while Alex- 
ander made his pilgrimage to the Temple of Jupiter 
Ammon, two hundred miles to the west. 

On the return of the great conqueror he immedi- 
ately set to work to people his metropolis. The seat of 
government was transferred thence from Memphis, 
colonists were invited from all quarters, among them, 
as we shall more particularly observe hereafter, a large 
number of Jews. 

The fame of the city was materially increased by 
subsequent events. Hither were afterward conveyed 
the remains of the dead king from Chaldeza in a golden 
car drawn by sixty-four mules, each arrayed in golden 
hangings and golden bells, across the deserts, over 
the mountains and through the valleys of Palestine, 
until they were deposited in the tomb which gave to 
the whole quarter of Alexandria in which it stood the 
name of ‘The Body.” This alone would have con- 
tributed to the importance of the place; but it was not 
dependent upon any such factitious assistance. Three 
worlds met in Alexandria—Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
by virtue of its location it soon drew to itself a com- 
merce exceeding that of any city in the world and 
thus secured and held the second place even in the 


266 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS, 


great Empire of Rome. 

The glory of the city increased as that of Athens 
declined. The various states of Greece, tossed from 
the hands of one tyrant to another under the succes- 
sors ot Alexander, attempted to regain their independ- 
ence, but were unable to do so because they could not 
agree in the defense of their common cause. Divided 
among themselves, turning for assistance from one ally 
to another, they prepared the way for the utter des- 
truction of the freedom of Greece, which Rome, ere 
long, was to accomplish. A great number of Greeks 
were thus induced to forsake their own country and 
seek an asylum elsewhere, and Alexandria became a 
second Athens and the true center of Greek civilization. 

Thus the foundation of Alexandria secured the pre- 
dominance of Greek influence throughout Egypt, and 
modified the character of the Egyptians themselves. 
This people who had been almost as seclusive as the 
Jews, now adopted commercial pursuits by which they 
were brought into intercourse with other nations. This 
in turn led to the breaking up of their rigid habits. 
They still continued separate from their conquerors in 
language and religion, but in other respects they bore 
with equanimity the yoke of the invaders. The pros- 
perity of Egypt during the entire period of the Ptole- 
maic dominion is due largely to the wisdom and skill 
of Ptolemy I.-Lagus (Soter), to whom this province 
was assigned in the division of Alexander’s domin- 
ions.“ He immediately relinquished the schemes of 
territorial aggrandizement to which he was committed 
during Alexander’s life-time, and devoted himself to 


(22) A fine general survey in Rawlinson’s Ancient History. 


ALEXANDRIA AND THE SOUTH. 207 


the improvement of his own territory. He determined 
upon the one hand to render it secure against invasion 
and conquest, and upon the other hand to develop all 
of its resources and improve the character of its civili- 
zation. In all this he succeeded, and the later glory of 
Egypt was the outcome. The tranquility of the 
country was maintained by a standing army composed 
_ almost exclusively of Greeks and Macedonians, but the 
army was confined to a few locations, so that its over- 
bearing presence was not felt by the larger part of the 
population. 

The chief peculiarity, however, of the Ptolemaic 
government as exhibited both by its founder and by a 
number of his successors, was its encouragement of liter- 
ature and science. ‘The founder of the line was him- 
self an author, and cherished a profound regard for 
men of learning. Recalling the researches of Aristotle 
and their influence upon Alexander, his former sover- 
eign, he himself determined to be another and greater 
Alexander, at least in this—that abandoning his mili- 
tary ambitions he would devote himself to his intellec 
tual ones. He therefore proceeded to collect an im- 
mense library and provide for its suitable care. A 
building was erected next his own palace and men of 
learning were invited to make use of it. A “museum” 
was also founded and a large corps of instructors 
engaged by which means students were attracted 
from all parts of the world. The list of distinguished 
names which thus adorn the dynasty of the Ptolemies 
is a long one, including Euclid the mathematician, 
Apelles the painter, Hipparchus the astronomer, Man- 
etho the historian and others well known to history. 


268 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


So, wonderfully did Almighty God prepare the way, 
as we shall particularly observe in our next chapter, 
for the study of his truth and its presentation to the 
Gentile world. 

The literary tastes of Ptolemy Lagus were inherited 
by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus and his grandson 
Ptolemy Euergetes, both of whom continued to patron- 
ize men of letters, extend the influence of Greek civili- 
zation and enhance the glory of their hellenic kingdom. 
And although their successors were incapable and 
wicked, yet the influences which they had set in motion 
were not arrested, but continued in full force until the 
Redeemer came and the empire of the Ptolemies suc- 
cumbed to the all-conquering arms of Rome, its great 
mission having been accomplished. 


ROMESAND? Leia Wiol. 


The spread of Greck institutions throughout the 
West is also connected with the career of Alexander. 

We have already observed that Greek colonies were 
established in western Europe as far back as 734 B. C. 
These colonies persistently cherished their Greek tradi- 
tions and customs. With the hellenizing of the East, 
there was a revival of the Greek spirit throughout the 
West also. The western Greeks became greatly inter- 


ested in the movements of their eastern brethren, and 


many of them joined the swarms of emigrants who 
poured into Asia. Thus a close connection and a 
warm fellowship was maintained between all the 
portions of the great Greek world and Rome herself 
was deeply affected by the Greek spirit. All those who 
boasted a Greek lineage were the more zealous in its 


ae 


ROME AND THE WEST. 269 


perpetuation. Greek influence was not therefore de- 
stroyed in the overthrow of Greek liberty and by the 
calamities which followed. On the contrary the cus- 
toms of Greece were diffused even the more widely, 
and we are reminded of what occurred before and after 
the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. The 
Greek language which had been already very gener- 
ally diffused throughout Italy became popular in all 
circles.“*) A knowledge of that language, which was 
the general medium of intercourse for all ancient civili- 
zation, had long been a common accomplishment; but 
now in the extension of Roman power such knowledge 
became necessary as well to the merchant as to the 
statesman. All classes, therefore, gave themselves 
to its acquisition. Meanwhile even the lower classes 
of the population, especially in the capital, learned to 
speak Greek through their intercourse with the slaves 
and freedmen who had been brought into Italy. In 
this way the whole Roman household was affected by 
Greek influences. The conservative Roman spirit 
which at first resisted the introduction of Greek learn- 
ing was unable to subdue it. Cesar’s grandfather in- 
veighed against the study of the Greek language, but 
Cesar himself resorted to Athens for instruction. Cato 
was in favor of driving Greek philosophers out of Rome, 
but in the generation which succeeded, the very children 
learned to speak the language of their servants and to 
ape their actions. It was in vain to stem the tide of 
innovation. The young men who desired cultivation 
could not be prevented from acquiring the tongue of 
Plato and Sophocles. They studied under Greek 


(23) History of Rome; Mommsen, II, ch. xix. 


270 THE HELLENIZING OF THE NATIONS. 


rhetoricians and philosophers. Even in the theatres the 
very comedies could not be understood without a knowl- 
edge of Greek—the language had been so much modi- 
fied by the introduction of Greek words. Greek be- 
came the language both of commerce and of polite 
intercourse, as well as of diplomacy. ‘‘ Greek,” says 
Cesar, “is read in almost all nations.” The Greek 
schoolmaster went wherever the centurion led the 
way—no less a conqueror in his own way than he; and 
the teachers of the Greek language settled not only in 
Italy, but were found even in the distant cities of 
Spain. Inasmuch as the Romans placed the work of 
elementary instruction, like every other work which 
was performed for hire, in the hands of slaves, freed- 
men or foreigners, the great bulk of the Roman popu- 
lation was committed to the hands of the Greeks, and 
in this way the western world was hellenized. 

We shall deal more particularly with Greek influ- 
ence in Italy in a succeeding chapter. 


HELLENISM AND THE JEW. 


It is apparent that if there was any providential 
meaning in the hellenizing of the nations the people 
of God themselves must to a considerable extent 
be brought under Greek influences. ‘The Jew was 
indeed no exception in the hellenizing of the nations. 
Indeed the most striking effects of hellenism in the 
age preceding the coming of Christ appear in that peo- 
"ple whose system was the most venerable and whose 
prejudices were the most impregnable. ‘These effects 
are also connected with the division of the empire of 


(24) Beginnings of Christianity , Fisher, p. 57. 


HELLENISM AND THE FEW. 271 


Alexander and serve to set forth the singular provi- 
dence of God as it was manifested therein. As the 
Syrian metropolis of Antioch, founded by one of the 
successors of Alexander, is seen to have exercised a 
vast influence upon the course of Christianity, so also 
the new Egyptian metropolis of Alexandria, founded 
by Alexander himself, exercised a corresponding in- 
fluence, but of a different kind. But it will be impos- 
sible to include the history of this influence in the pres- 
ent chapter; we pass therefore to the next, in which we 
shall treat of hellenism and the Jew in connection with 
the metropolis of Alexandria. 


6 


CHAPTER X. 


THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JEW. 


We have already observed in a previous chapter 
that following the Babylonian captivity and under the 
favoring influences of the Persian empire the Jew had 
been in a measure revolutionized. His character was 
not, however, thereby altered except in its external 
aspect. ‘The revolution had accomplished little else 
than to bring him into contact with the nations of the 
world. It broke up his habits of seclusion and ren- 
dered him content to live outside the narrow bounds 
of his own country. But he still continued to speak 
the same language, to adhere to the same exclusive 
regard for his own institutions, and to explain all 
things by the only philosophy with which he was 
acquainted—the tradition of his fathers. This was true 
of all the Jews; there was but one class of them. We 
find, however, when we open the New Testament that 
two distinct classes are recognized. The first is known 
by the ancient name, “‘Jews;’’ the second are called 
‘‘Grecians.””"™ We observe, also, that these Grecians 
comprise a large element, probably the majority, of 
the early Christian church. We discover, upon the 
first mention of them, that there is a certain amount 
of friction between them and their brethren who bear 
the ancient name. They are introduced to our atten- 


(1) Hereafter this word will invariably be used to designate the Greek- 
speaking Jews. 


274. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


tion in Acts vi: 1, where we are told that ‘“‘there arose 
a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, 
because their widows were neglected in the daily min- 
istration.” They are mentioned again in chapter ix: 
29, where we are told that Saul of Tarsus, when he 
returned from Damascus to Jerusalem, after his con- 
version “disputed against the Grecians; but they went 
about to slay him.” In chapter xi:20, we read that 
certain believers who had come to Antioch ‘spake 
unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.” We 
should be disposed to conclude even from these simple 
statements, although we were ignorant of foregoing 
history, that some great providential movement had 
been in progress since the close of the Old Testament, 
in the course of which a people had been furnished out 
of the Jewish church itself, forming a connecting link 
between that church and the Gentile world. This con- 
clusion would be a just one. It is a mistake to sup- 
pose—as the uninstructed reader of the New Testa- 
ment is liable to do—that in the day wherein the hope 
of Israel was to be extended to all nations there was 
no mediator between the Jew and the Gentile. The 
very reverse was the case. The mediator had been 
provided, and his production is one of the most re- 
markable illustrations of divine providence, in its con- 
trol of human history, which is anywhere afforded. 
The Gospel was not to depend for its agencies solely 
upon the Jew of Palestine, with his provincialism and _ 
prejudice. Under the omniscient leadership of God a 
fusion of races had been in progress, and there had 


(2) The Revised Version says “Greeks,” with “Grecians” in the 
margin. 


HISTORY OF THE GRECIAN. 275 


been produced a new species, which intellectually 
realized what some ethnologists say is physically im- 
possible, a true hybred. ‘That hybrid was the Grecian. 
He was a true Jew and a true Greek in the same per- 
son, but in him the stern and repulsive stiffness of 
Judaism had been softened by the elements of hellenic 
culture. He adhered to the God of Israel and prayed 
toward the temple at Jerusalem; but he spake the lan- 
guage of Athens and lived in the atmosphere of the 
Acropolis. He was the ordained mediator of the new 
era. He was personified in Paul, the Apostle to the 
Gentiles. 
HISTORY OF THE GRECIAN. 


The production of the Grecian is an integral part 
of the great intellectual revolution which we have con- 
sidered. His history begins with Alexander; so that 
Alexander becomes the herald not only of a mighty 
change in the thought of the Pagan world, but also 
the forerunner of a mighty change in the Jewish mind 
itself. 

Josephus tells us that after Alexander had passed 
through Asia Minor and subjugated Tyre he made 
haste to go up to Jerusalem; that the notice of his 
coming produced great confusion and fear in the Jew- 
ish capital, which was only allayed when Jaddua, the 
high-priest, announced that God had appeared to him 
in a dream, assuring him that the advent of the con- 
queror would not be attended by any ill. Josephus 
then continues: 

“ When the high-priest understood that Alexander was not 


far from the city he went out in procession with the priests and 


(3) See Neander’s Church History ; Introduction. 


276 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


a multitude of citizens. The procession was venerable; and the 
manner of it different from that of other nations. It reached to 
a place called Sapha, which place translated into Greek signifies a 
‘prospect’( Scopus ), for thence you have a prospect both of Jerusa- 
lem and of the temple. And when the Pheenicians and the Chal- 
deans that followed him (Alexander) thought they should have 
liberty to plunder the city and torment the high-priest to death, the 
very reverse of it happened, for Alexander when he saw the multi- 
tude at a distance in white garments, while the priests stood near 
them in fine linen, and the high-priest in purple and scarlet cloth- 
ing with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon 
the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself and 
adored that name and first saluted the high-priest. The Jews 
also did altogether with one voice salute Alexander and encom- 
pass him about, whereupon the king of Syria and the rest were 
surprised at what Alexander had done and supposed him disor- 
dered in his mind. However, Parmenio alone went up to him 
and asked him how it came to pass that when all others adored 
him, he should adore the high-priest of the Jews. To whom he 
replied, ‘I did not adore him, but that God who hath honored 
him with his high-priesthood; for I saw this very person in a 
dream in this very habit when I was at Diosin Macedonia; who, 
when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the 
dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay but boldly to 
pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army 
and give me the dominion over the Persians.’”? Josephus con- 
tinues: “The next day Alexander called them to him and bade 
them ask what favors they pleased of him, whereupon the high- 
priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers 
and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all 
they desired and when they entreated him that he would permit 
the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, 
he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired.” 


‘The kindness which the great conqueror showed to 
the Jews bore fruit in the honor which they paid to his 
memory. ‘They soon began to name their children after 
him, employing his name as a substitute for the name of 


(4) Antigutties ; xi, 8. 


HISTORY OF THE GRECIAN. ZA] 


their own great king, Solomon. A large number of 
Alexanders of Jewish fame are remembered in his- 
tory—some even in the New Testament itself; but what 
is still more remarkable, the feminine of the name, 
Alexandra, which scarcely ever occurs in Greek nomen- 
clature, was a common Jewish name, as it is a common 
Christian one. 

From this point, therefore, dates the hellenizing of 
the Jews throughout the Macedonian empire and the 
kingdoms which succeeded it. It was in the nature of 
things impossible that the Jewish communities in the 
West should remain unaffected by Grecian culture and 
modes of thought; and all that seems to have been 
necessary in order to render the Jew accessible to Greek 
influences was a manifestation of friendship upon the part 
of the great Greek conqueror. Here then as Eders- 
heim beautifully says: 

«© While we behold old Israel groping back into the darkness 
of the past, in the Judaism of the East; we behold young Israel, 
in the Judaism of the West, stretching forth its hands to where 
the dawn of a better day was about to break.”©) 

These Jews of the West had no local history to look 
back upon nor did they form a compact body like their 
brethren of the East. To them Jerusalem was only a 
symbol not a home. ‘They were craftsmen, traders, 
merchants—settled for a time here or there. They 
might combine for a while into communities, but they 
could not form one people. Greek influences also were 
in the air, and the Jew could no more shut his mind 
against them than he could withdraw his body from 
the influences of the climate in which his lot was cast. 


(5) Life of the Messiah, Vol. I, p. 17. 


5 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


27¢ 


Jewish communities were of course loyal to the customs 
of their fathers in all essential matters. The Grecian 
Jew looked with contempt and pity upon the idola- 
trous rites which were practiced about him, and upon 
the dissoluteness of public and private life; and-yet when 
he stepped outside of the little company whom he met 
in his own synagogue, or withdrew himself from his 
own dwelling, he found himself confronted upon every 
side by Grecianism—in the forum, in the market-place, 
in the shop and upon the street; in all he saw, in all 
whom he met. He beheld its refinement, its elegance, 
the profundity of its thought, the attractiveness of its 
form. He might endeavor to resist it; but he could 
not overcome it. It thus became necessary for him 
to detend himself. But in the very process of self-de- 
fence he began to enquire whether the truths of divine 
revelation were all the truths that God had ever per- 
mitted mankind to learn; and whether there were not 
some things in the thought of those about him worth 
adopting—in form at least, if not in substance. 

At first he was disposed to resist Greek influences to 
the uttermost. It was forbidden him to study Greek 
philosophy or even to speak the Greek language. A 
young man once asked his uncle, a learned rabbi, 
whether he might not study Greek, since he had already 
mastered the Law. The rabbi replied by a reference 
to Joshua i:8: ‘‘Go and search what is the hour which 
is neither of the day nor of the night, and in it thou 
mayst study Greek philosophy.” 

But the very question was prophetic of the rising 
tendencies, and the subtle proof of surrounding influ- 
ences. As those influences encroached on the strong- 


HISTORY OF THE GRECIAN. 279 


holds of Judaism they became the more resistless. 
The Greek met the Jew at his own threshold, even in 
Palestine itself. Grecianism invaded the holy places 
which patriarchs and prophets had sanctified by their 
presence. Czesarea, Gaza, Askelon and Joppa first 
became Greek cities, and there were many such be- 
tween Hermon and the Dead Sea. In some of these 
the people were compelled to speak Greek by imperial 
ordinance,” and it began to displace the native lan- 
guage. The Romans published their decrees in Greek 
and Latin, never in Aramaic or Hebrew. It is a sig: 
nificant illustration of the state of the spoken language 
in the age of Christ, that the Apostle Paul succeeding 
in stilling the mob which threatened his life at Jerusa- 
lem by speaking to them “in the Hebrew tongue,” 
showing that he ordinarily spoke in another tongue.® 
The providence of God thus fairly forced upon the 
Jews the Greek language and some attention at least 
to Greek learning. They began to speak Greek; their 
children learned to read Greek authors, and _ their 
grandchildren — some of them, actually married 
Greeks, and the intellectual hybrid at last appeared. 
The chasm was bridged by a single cable, where soon 
should be suspended a solid highway. 

In such a case as this it could not be but that the 
Grecian Jews should form, in some large city of the 
world, an important center, at which they should learn 
to apply their studies of Greek to the interpretation 
of the Scriptures, and from which the theories which 


(6) See a complete list in Schurer’s Fewish People in the Time of 
Christ. Div. II, Vol, I. See also Merivale, xxix. 

(Y) Mommsen’s Provinces , Book VIII, ch. ii. 

(8) Acts xxii:2, 


2So THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


they had formed in consequence should radiate 
throughout the earth. What more natural thing than 
that this center should be found in the great city 
which their royal benefactor had himseif founded, and 
to which was subsequently given his own name. 


THE JEW OF ALEXANDRIA. 


It is a matter of surprising interest that as Israel 
should have been led into Egypt preparatory to the 
giving of the law, so a large portion of Israel— 
exceeding in numbers the company that received the 
law, should have been led again into Egypt preparatory 
to the promulgation of the Gospel. Egypt has indeed 
been very closely associated with the redemptive pur- 
pose of God from the beginning. ‘The people of Israel 
throughout their history had almost constant inter- 
course with the country, and even the infant Saviour 
sojourned there for a season. 

The Jewish colonization of Egypt in the period of 
which we are now treating dates back to the capture 
of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 

The prophet Jeremiah® informs us that after the 
conspiracy of Ishmael, ‘‘of the seed royal,” and his 
murder of Gedaliah, who had been made governor of 
Jerusalem, he attempted to escape to Baalis, king of 
Ammon, with a number of captives, among whom 
were certain royal princesses—the “‘king’s daughters.” 
He was overtaken however by Johanan who recovered 
the captives, Ishmael escaping. In the panic which 
ensued, the small remant of Jews who still remained at 
Jerusalem, including Jeremiah, Baruch and the “king’s 


(9) Chapters xlii, xliii. 


— 


THE FEW OF ALEXANDRIA. 281 


daughters,”’ 


were carried by Johanan into Egypt and 
settled at Tahpanhes, an important town in the north- 
eastern portion of the Delta. The evidence of their 
residence in this section still remains inthe Arab name 
of a group of ruins at Defenneh, the site of Tahpanhes, 
known as Kusr el Bint el Yehudi, ‘the Palace of the 
Jew’s Daughter.”® From this time the number of 
Jewish settlers constantly increased. Companies of 
colonists are said to have been forcibly transported 
thither by the Persian kings. The greater accession 
however was made in the days of Alexander, and sub- 
sequently under the friendly reign of his successors, the 
Ptolemies, to whose kingdom Judea was generally 
tributary. 

In founding the city of Alexandria the great chieftain 
offered special inducements to his Jewish subjects to 
become its residents. He put them upon terms of 
equality with his own Macedonians, accorded to them 
the rights of citizenship and insured to them the utmost 
religious toleration. A large number were thus at- 
mideved) to. the place: 

Under the oppression of the Syrian kings many 
more took refuge in Egypt and found an asylum there. 
The Ptolemies with one exception were friendly to 
them, and even became their patrons. <A special 
quarter of Alexandria was assigned to them, and 
under these favoring influences the Jewish population 
continued to increase until in the days of the Redeemer 
its number reached a full million.“ 

Thus Egypt became almost another Judzea, and 


(10) The Bible and Modern Discoveries » Harper, p. 475. 
(11) Mommsen’s Provinces , Book VIII: ch. xu. 


282 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


Alexandria another Jerusalem; except that their Jewish 
citizens were gradually molded into another stamp and 
greatly modified in character and sympathies by the 
strange influences which beset them on every hand, 
This modification presently betrayed itself in the most 
striking manner. One of the first articles of Jewish 
faith had long been this, that there could be but one 
temple and one altar of sacrifice—those of Jerusalem, 
the place which the Lord God had chosen ‘to cause 
his name to dwell there.” But the Jews of Egypt 
soon found an excuse to amend this article. The ex- 
cuse was partly religious, partly political. A member 
of the high-priestly family named Onias, failing of the 
succession at Jerusalem, fled to Egypt, and by reason 
of his high ecclesiastical rank secured the confidence 
of the king, Ptolemy Philometor, B. C. 149. He 
represented to the king that it would be well to take 
steps to prevent the frequent pilgrimages of his Jewish 
subjects to Jerusalem, at that time held by the king of 
Syria, by providing for their religious needs at home. 
His arguments seem to have been much like those of 
Jeroboam when he set up the rival shrines at Bethel 
and at Dan.’ The king fell in with the scheme of 
Onias, presented him with an abandoned temple near 
Heliopolis, assisted him in its renovation and con- 
firmed him and his family in the high-priesthood. 

At first it was not easy to reconcile the Jews to this 
radical departure from their ancient faith. Onias, 
however, was expert in argument. In his own justifi- 
cation he produced the prophecy from Isaiah.¢® 

“In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the 


(12) I Kings xil. (13) Isaiah xix: 18, Ig. 


THE FEW OF ALEXANDRIA. 283 


language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts. One 
shall be called the City of the Sun.” (4) 

This prophecy he declared to be fulfilled in Heli- 
opolis, the City of the Sun; and by such arguments he 
prevailed. ‘The Grecians rallied around him and a 
large colony was collected about the new sanctuary, 
to which the entire Jewish population of Egypt soon 
became devoted. 

The temple was inclosed with high brick walls, and 
resembled a fortified camp. Onias and his sons 
endeavored to perpetuate the military traditions of the 
tribe of Levi, to which they belonged, and formed 
with their attendants a powerful band of soldiery, 
which more than once rendered the king of Egypt 
distinguished services. 

The erection of this temple of Heliopolis and the re- 
lations into which its military priesthood were brought 
to the Egyptian sovereign produced results of the 
most important character. A new center of Judaism 
was formed by means which threatened a breach with 
the Palestinian Jews, while it tended to closer fellowship 
with the Egyptian Greeks. The Jews of Egypt prob- 
ably did not intend to present their temple as a rival to 
that of Jerusalem. On the contrary, they seem to have 
looked upon it as a legitimate daughter and themselves 
as dutiful children. They confessed the priority of 
Jerusalem and spoke of its house as the ‘Great 
Temple’“®—their own being a lesser one. They never 
renounced their allegiance to Jerusalem nor despised 


(14) Reading of the margin. See onthis matter Prideaux’s Connec- 
prope se ol, Ll pais. 

(15) Josephus, Contra Apion, il. 5. 

(15) See II Maccabees ii: Ig: xiv: 13. 


284 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


her authority. Nevertheless they became virtually a 
distinct and separate community, with their own 
council and priesthood. Few of them ever visited 
Jerusalem, many of them forgot the sound of their 
own language, and even those who retained a knowl- 
edge of Hebrew were, as a rule, not proficient in it. 

In this connection it must be remembered, as we 
have already indicated, that the Jews of Egypt were 
by no means confined to Alexandria and Heliopolis. 
‘here were many important colonies of them through- 
out the land. After those which have been mentioned, 
that of Cyrene is perhaps the most interesting, the more 
particularly as its members had a synagogue in Jeru- 
salem,"” which was to assume special importance in 
connection with the crucifixion of Jesus“® and the 
preaching of his apostles. But Cyrene was an old 
Greek colony, which had diligently cultivated the cus- 
toms of its mother country and whose inhabitants had 
become in consequence both luxurious and refined; so 
that here too the Jews came under the most emphatic 
hellenistic influences. Thus throughout the entire 
country the transformation of the Jew was in process 
of accomplishment. 


THE SEPTUAGINT. 


The Jews of Egypt being by such influences drawn 
ever nearer to their Gentile brethren, there proceeded 
from their joint desires and efforts a most remarkable 
work, which was to find acceptance among Greek- 
speaking Jews everywhere and thus prepare in a 
singular manner the way of the coming Redeemer. 


(17) Acts 11: Io and vi: 9. (18) Matt. xxvii: 32, etc. 


THE SEPTUAGINT. 285 


This was the Greek translation of the Old Testa- 
ment, venerable not only as the oldest version of the 
Scriptures, but as that which, in the time of the Saviour, 
held the same place which the King James version 
holds in the English-speaking world. The details 
connected with the origin of this work are not certainly 
known. ‘There is very much that is legendary con- 
nected with its story. It probably originated in the 
first place inthe need of the Grecians, who were ignor- 
ant of the Hebrew language, of some version of the 
Scriptures which they could read and understand. 
There were probably in use certain early Greek ver- 
sions of separate parts of the Pentateuch, but this was 
not sufficient for their needs. There may have been, 
besides, some curiosity on the part of students of other 
races dwelling in Alexandria to know the sacred books 
on which the history and religion of Israel were founded. 
We must also take into account the literary tastes of 
the first three Ptolemies, who were patrons of learning, 
and who founded the museum of Alexandria and its 
great library. It is not unlikely that these monarchs 
sought to enrich their treasures with an authentic ren- 
dering of the sacred books of the Jews, at least that 
they encouraged such a translation. The oldest part 
of the translation is the Pentateuch, whose origin is said 
to be found in the friendly interposition of Ptolemy II. 
Philadelphus. At his request the Jewish high-priest is 
said to have delegated seventy-two men, by whose 
labors the whole was finished in seventy-two days.0® 
This is, however, a suspicious history, and we can say 
with certainty only that the translation was made and 


(29) Schurer; Vol. III, 160. 


286 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


in use by the year 220 B. C., as certain authors after 
that time make use of it. Translations of the other 
portions of the Old Testament soon followed until the 
whole book had been given to the Greek-speaking 
world. It soon became more popular and was more 
commonly found in Jewish use than the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures themselves. / It was the “‘ People’s Bible ” to that 
large Jewish world, through which Christianity was 
afterwards to reach mankind. ‘The Grecians regarded 
it as inspired like the original, and were accustomed 
to make their final appeal to the very words of the 
Greek version. It seems to have been read in the 
synagogues—the worship probably being conducted 
wholly or in part in Greek.©? It was authoritatively 
acknowledged even in Palestine itself, where, in con- 
nection with its use, it was permitted that prayers 
might be said in the Greek tongue. It finally became 
to the Jewish Church, even in Palestine, but especially 
in the Gentle world, what Luther’s translation of the 
Bible became to the Evangelical Church of Germany, 
and produced a similar effect in enlightening and liber- 
alizing the people. This then may be regarded as the 
formative point of Grecianism, the point at which the 
transformation of the Jew is distinctly accomplished. 

The translation of the Sacred Scriptures into Greek 
and its acceptance by the Jewish Church, meant very 
much more to the world than might seem at first to 
have been portended. It was virtually the extension 
of the hope of Israel to the Gentiles with whom the 
Jews had come in contact. It was the expression of a 
desire that the benefits of the religion contained in 

(20) Edersheim’s “ Messiah ,’’ Vol. I, p. 20. 


THE SEPTUAGINT. 284 


their Scriptures might be communicated to the Greeks, 
into whose language those Scriptures were now cast; 
and it was the foreshadowing of a truth—not as yet 
distinctly promulgated, that in the presence of the God 
of those Scriptures there was neither Jew nor Greek. 
We can well understand the state of the case by a 
comparison with the condition of the Mohammedan 
world in our own day. The Musselman authorities 
have never tolerated any translation or version of the 
Koran. The faithful are obliged to read it in the 
original. Their exclusiveness is thus preserved; and 
whenever such a translation shall be made with the 
consent of those in power, or whenever such transla- 
tions as have been made by others shall be accepted 
by them, the days of the reign of the false prophet will 
be numbered. It was just so when the Septuagint was 
made and accepted by the Jew. Judaism had well 
nigh fulfilled its mission, and the multitudes of prose- 
lytes who began to adopt, at least in a measure, the 
faith of Jehovah were the earnest of the extension 
of that faith to all mankind. 

It must not be supposed, however, that these disin- 
tegrating influences were allowed to proceed unchal- 
lenged. The differences between the Palestinian Jews 
and the Jews of the dispersion have been already noted. 
With the rise of hellenism there arose also a reaction 
against it. The leaders of Jewish thought in the East 
set themselves against the tendencies of Jewish thought 
in the West, and both at Babylon and at Jerusalem— 
the two great centers of Eastern Judaism—the disposi- 
tion was strongly manifested to make a still stronger 
“ hedge about the law,” and to preserve the distinctive 


2588 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


character and constituency of the Jewish church in its 
integrity. Thus, while from first to last there was no 
outbreaking hostility between the Jews and the Gre- 
cians, except in isolated cases; there was very consid- 
erable friction of the sort which has been indicated. 
The Jews became more and more suspicious of the 
Grecians; the Grecians became more and more dis- 
satisfied with the narrow views and formal practices 
of the Jews, and a gulf of separation soon began to 
appear, which gulf was one of association and tendency, 
rather than one of difference in the fundamental faith— 
not unlike the frequent illustration of ‘‘ vadzcal” and 
“conservative.” : 

The Grecians, however, having begun their work 
with the preparation of the Septuagint, were not to be 
arrested in their liberal tendencies. The enjoyment of 
the benefits which accrued to them from their new 
version of the Scriptures only increased the desire to 
secure for themselves larger advantages in the same 
line by extending to the Gentiles a still wider knowl- 
edge of their history, customs and beliefs. The 
Grecian was thus committed to a work which the Jew 
had never attempted, and of which the Grecian had 
scarcely so much as dreamed. This work included 
a labor which had not been anticipated. ‘The Greek 
could now read the Jewish Scriptures in his own 
tongue and for himself. They were open to his com- 
ments and his criticisms. ‘The Grecian must be pre- 
pared to defend his religion from the attack of those. 
who were inimical to it, and to answer their criticisms, 
even though he had no other object in view than the 
satisfaction of his own mind. A large mass of litera- 


OTHER GRACO-FJEWISH LITERATURE. 259 


ture, therefore, immediately succeeded the Septuagint, 
the general character of which must be indicated, in 
order that we may apprehend the significance of the 
movement. 


OTHER GRACO-JEWISH LITERATURE. 


The Septuagint may be regarded as the first great 
" step in the movement of the Jewish faith under the 
direction of divine providence toward the Gentile 
world. In taking this first step the Jew is definitely 
transformed. ‘The second great step was taken in the 
literature which succeeded it. Its practical aim was 
to strengthen the Grecians themselves; to give to those 
who had not enjoyed the advantages of a residence in 
Palestine an acquaintance with their great past, and, 
in addition, to convince non-Jewish readers of the folly 
of heathenism and of the futility of attacks upon the 
faith of Israel. 

This literature is best known through those exam- 
ples of it which are preserved in the Old Testament 
Apochrypha; but there is a vast amount in addition. 
It comprised in general, historical, philosophical, apol- 
ogetic and polemic writings. As the movement from 
the first had a Greek outlook, the way was soon pre- 
pared for an attempted reconciliation with the Greek 
philosophy —not with that later Greek philosophy 
which was represented in Epicureanism (which was 
too widely opposed to the teachings of the Old Tes- 
tament for any Jew to so much as consider it), but 
rather with the charming speculations of Platonism 
and the lofty self-abnegation of Stoicism. The Gre- 
cians imagined that by the first they might give the 


290 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


reason for their peculiar faith, and by the second the 
reason for their peculiar life. They sought to find in 
the philosophy of Plato some basis for their theology, 
and in the philosophy of the Stoics a foundation for its 
ethics. Assuming this position, they might pour con- 
tempt upon heathenism as such, while seeking a posi- 
tive alliance with its best and purest thought. The 
result of this attempt was a curious eclecticism, in 
which Platonism, Stoicism and Judaism were both 
confused and combined. ‘ Wisdom,” of which we 
hear so much in this Greeco-Jewish literature, and 
which is often presented in such a concrete form 
as to be exalted almost into a person, is sometimes. 
described in the language of Stoicism, sometimes in 
that of Platonism—as ‘the birth of the power of God,” 
or as ‘a pure influence flowing from the glory of the 
Almighty.”°? The virtues of Judaism are likewise 
described in similar language, borrowed from Greek 
philosophy, as also the theories concerning the pre- 
existence of the soul. Such views, in their more pro- 
found aspects, were but the expression of the need of 
some revelation from on high which should be an 
advance even upon those of the most orthodox Jew 
himself. 

Eastern Judaism could not persuade itself to look 
with favor upon such seeming compromises. At the 
best they were only tolerated. Some of these works 
were permitted to the Rabbis which were withdrawn 
from common use. While at first they were not 
regarded as heretical, and while some of the teachers 
of Israel made use of them and even quoted them in 


(21) Edersheim's Messiah , I, 32. 


ee ae Pe ee ee a ee 


Q 
bo 
i 
‘ 
ts! 
my 
. 


- 


OTHER GRACO-FEWISH LITERATURE. 291 


their own writings, they were carefully distinguished 
from the canonical Scriptures and from the works of 
the fathers. After a time, however, the Jews of the 
East, perceiving the drift of the Greco-Jewish move- 
ment, forbade the use of the works which it had _pro- 
duced, and degraded them to the same level as the 
‘“outside books” which Jews were not allowed to read 
or even to consult. This tardy condemnation, how- . 
ever, was too late to be effective. The influence of 
the movement was already felt. The books were all 
the more eagerly read, not only because it was sup- 
posed that they glorified Judaism among the Gentiles, 
but: because they were advertised as doubtful reading 
which might afford a knowledge of that forbidden 
Greek world into which even the unlettered Jews of 
Palestine were anxious to penetrate. 

The leaders among the Grecians being thus made 
aware of their increased influence began the endeavor 
not only to combine their theological views with Greek 
philosophy but even to connect that philosophy with 
their very Scriptures. In order to do this it was neces- 
sary to find underneath the letter of Scripture some 
meaning which would accord with the teachings of 
the Greek philosophers. The method was at hand. 
The Greeks, in the studies of their own ancient writ- 
ings, particularly the poems of Homer, had ingeni- 
cusly formulated a theory, in accordance with which 
the letter contained an allegorical meaning, for whose 
sake it was written and which expressed its deepest 
truth.? Thus, in the Odyssey, the*hero represents a 
man tossed upon the sea of life, driven hither and 


(22) Hibbert Lectures; 1888, I11. 


292 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW, 


thither by the storms of adverse fortune; the Loto- 
phagi are the evil powers of appetite and passion by 
which some of his companions are destroyed, and the 
Sirens are the seductive pleasures against which one 
must fortify himself by filling his mind with divine 
thoughts, as Ulysses filled his ears with wax. 

This method, once introduced, became most popular 
and persistent. All the great writers were regarded 
as writers of riddles—concealing a deeper meaning be- 
neath the letter of their text. ‘The use of symbolical 
speech,” said a grammarian of the Augustan age, ‘is 
characteristic of the wise man,” and this theory was 
commonly accepted. A symbolical meaning was at- 
tached to names, places, numbers, and so on; and it 
became easy for those who adopted the theory to 
prove anything thereby, even their own peculiar phil- 
osophical tenets and their maxims of natural science. 
The process was, still further, pleasing to the imagina- 
tion, and the results were satisfactory, inasmuch as 
they could neither be proved nor disproved. 

This allegorical method was therefore accepted by 
the Grecians, and by means of it they seriously at- 
tempted to unfold the deeper meaning of their holy 
writings. ‘Lhey applied the allegorical interpretation 
to the whole history of Israel, beginning with the Fall. 
The brazen serpent, the manna, the garments of the 
high-priest, and many other things were obliged to 
yield a meaning, which had first been conveyed into 
them by their method and then deduced from them. 

It is true, indeed, that the Eastern Jews had also 
applied an allegorical method to the interpretation of 
Scripture; but it was entirely different in principle from 


= -.  S 


i ee eS Te 


ee ee eee eee 


PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA. 293 


that which was now undertaken by the Jews of the 
West. The method of the East did not seek to import 
any truths not otherwise discernible into the sacred 
text; but only to draw out of that text certain applica- 
tions for the purposes of instruction and edification. 
The express teaching of the Rabbis of the East was that 
“Scripture does not go beyond its plain meaning.” 
They always insisted that one should not search a law 
for its hidden reason or explanation; but that it was his 
duty simply to obey it. But the very thing which the 
Jews of the East discarded in their allegorical method, 
the Jews of the West formally and boldly adopted. 
Having once entered upon this path there was no 
such thing as standing still. ‘The work must continue 
until it had arrived at the dignity of a system, with its 
fixed principles and rules, by which the teachings of 
Greek philosophy and Jewish theology should be welded 
together by some unifying principle. The perfecting of 
this system was the work of a.Grecian, who was born 
about 20 B.C., and who enjoys the reputation of being 
the greatest of all the uninspired men whom Judaism has 
produced. This sketch would be altogether imperfect, 
and the tendency of the Grecian movement scarcely 
apprehended, were not a few pages devoted to the con- 


sideration of his peculiar work. 


PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA. 


We know very little of the personal history of this 
remarkable man. He was descended from the house 
of Aaron; but his family seem to have entirely aban- 
doned the priesthood. His father was a merchant 
belonging to one of the wealthiest and most influential 


294 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


Jewish families in Egypt. His brother was the political 
head of the Jewish community in Alexandria. He was 
himself employed, at least on one occasion as a repre- 
sentative of that community, before the court of Rome. 


HIS EDUCATION. 


In the early education of Philo special attention had 
been given to Greek authors. He united Greek learn- 
ing with Jewish enthusiasm. He possessed a very 
thorough knowledge of Greek literature, and betrays in 
his writings his familiarity with more than sixty Greek 
authors—quoting from-such sources as Homer, Hesiod, 
Pindar, Solon, Plato and ‘Eschylus. His knowledge 
of Hebrew was only respectable in comparison with 
his knowledge of Greek. He had very little accur- 
ate information with regard to the teachings of the 
Eastern Jews. He was not even fluent in the Hebrew 
tongue, but read his Old Testament exciusively in the 
Greek translation. While, therefore, his heart leaned 
towards Jerusalem, his mind was bent towards Athens. 
While he remained a devoted Jew in his associations 
and his protestations, the Greek philosophy is more 
prominent in his writings than Jewish culture. His 
diction was formed after the Greek classics, and his 
phraseology shows his great indebtedness to Plato. In 
his eyes the great philosophers, beginning with Plato, 
were divine men and formed a sacred society. But he 
had been taught to regard these men as something 
better than pagans. They had been his teachers. He 
had learned to regard them with scarcely less venera- 
tion than Moses, David and Isaiah. The Greek philo- 
sophers in his eyes were “holy,” though not so holy as 


i 
t 


PHILO’S PECULIAR WORK. 295 


_ 


the teachers of Israel. To him Plato was great, though 
Moses was greater. The characteristic feature of 
his viewpoint is this, that his entire theory of the 
world may be stated without mentioning any notions 
that are distinctively Jewish. His Judaism virtually 
consisted in the formal claim that the Jewish people 
were in possession of the highest religious knowledge. 
Nevertheless over that Judaism Greek views had 
gained the upper hand. In essential points he agrees with 
them rather than with the Jewish traditions, and while 
his system on the whole may be called an eclectic one, 
Platonic, Stoic, and Pythagorean doctrines are the 
most prominent. 


HIS PECULIAR WORK; 


It was Philo’s peculiar work, therefore, to weave 
the doctrines of the Greek philosophers and the Jewish 
prophets into.a single web. This could only be done 
by a two-fold interpretation of the Old Testament 
Scriptures, the literal and the allegorical. The letter 
must be sacredly retained; the history must be re- 
garded as authentic; the personages as real. But 
Philo was not willing to become a slave to the letter, 
nor to regard its plain meaning as the more important 
truth. His system taught that the allegorical inter- 
pretation gave the true sense even while it might run 
counter to the letter itself. Thus, the personages were 
made to represent moral affections and states; histori- 
cal events to represent the experiences of the soul; and 
even the literal sense was wholly set aside when it 
seemed to imply anything unworthy of God or con- 
trary to the human reason. It is evident that such a 


290 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


system as this might overcome all difficulties of every 
nature, and bring about a reconciliation which could 
not be affected upon any other plan. 

But the system in the hands of Philo proceeded even 
to a more extravagant length. Interpretations were 
based even upon a play upon words, or upon the pos- 
sible meaning of Hebrew words when translated into 
Greek; upon peculiar modes of expression; upon the 
positions of verses, paragraphs and even letters; upon 
the presence or absence of certain words, and—most 
remarkable of all—allegorical interpretations might 
be employed as the basis of other allegorical interpre- 
tations. His theology was Jewish in so far as it 
insisted upon monotheism and upon the worship of God 
apart from images; but it was opposed only to the poly- 
theism of the popular heathen faith and not to the idea 
of the divine in Greek philosophy. A single illustra- 
tion of his method may be given in his treatment of a 
text from Genesis xxvili:11. ‘‘ He took of the stones 
of that place and put them for his pillows.” From this 
Philo teaches that the ‘student of virtue’ should not 
seek a ‘delicate and luxurious life.” ‘The men who 
spend their days in doing injuries to others and return 
to their homes at night to lie down in soft and costly 
beds are not the disciples of the sacred word.” Jacob 
on the contrary is the example of such a disciple: ‘he 
is the archetype of a soul that disciplines itself.” “* But 
the passage has a further meaning, which is conveyed 
insymbol. The divine place and the holy ground is 
full of incorporeal Intelligences, who are immortal souls. 
It is one of these that Jacob takes and puts close to his 
mind, which is, as it were, the head of the combined 


a Oe OE 


PHILOS PECULIAR WORK, 2947 


person, body and soul. He does so under the pretext 
of going to sleep, but in reality to find repose in the 
Intelligence which he has chosen, and to place all the 
burden of his life upon it.” 

It is evident that Philo follows here the Greek 
method. He says himself that it is the method of the 
Greek mysteries. He addresses his hearers by the 
name given to those who were being initiated. He 
exhorts them to be purified before they listen. Thus 
Philo appears as a Greek philosopher, while still adher- 
ing to his Jewish faith.°® It is therefore apparent that 
in him and in those who became his disciples, Grecian- 
ism is found in a position considerably beyond the mid- 
dle point between the Jewish and the Gentile world. 
The works of Philo are many: and cannot here be 
treated in detail.©® His doctrines may be thus briefly 
summarized. | 

1. God and the World. ‘The fundamental thought 
from which Philo starts is that of the dualism of God 
and the world. God alone is good and perfect. He 
exists neither in space nortime. He has neither human 
qualities nor affections. He is, in fact, without any 
qualities, and without any name, and therefore, cannot 
be known by man. We-can only say that he is, not 
what he is. But in connection with these negative 
definitions, in. which almost everything seems to .be 
denied of God, there are also found a series of positive 
assertions with regard to his nature which sometimes 
seemed to contradict the former ones. There is the 


(23) Hibbert Lectures ,; 1888, III. 


(24) A full description may be found in Schurer: 7he Fewtsh People 
in the Time of Christ. 


208 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


Jewish idea of creation and providence, and the Stoic 
idea of God as immanent in the world—as that alone 
Which is real in it and active in it; to use his own 
expression, ‘‘ Himself one and the all.” The explana- 
tion of this seeming contradiction consists in the effort 
to remove all limitation and all imperfection from God; 
and at the same time represent him as combining every 
perfection, and therefore filling and comprising every- 
thing. All perfection in the creature is derived solely 
from him. He is the light of the soul. His goodness 
is the crown of creation. The finite on the other hand 
is both imperfect and evil. There is nothing perfect 
and good except God himself. 

2. Lntermediate Powers. Because God is abso- 
lutely perfect he cannot enter into direct contact with 
matter—it would defile him. He therefore acts upon 
the world and in the world, according to Philo, through 
the intervention of certain powers which establish an 
intercourse between the two: ‘“ Potencies,” “ Words;” 
Potencres when viewed from the Godward side, and 
words when viewed from the side of creation. These 
powers were the active causes which brought disord- 
ered matter into order. By means of them God acts. 
They are his ministers, and mediums between the infi- 
nite and the finite. They correspond to the angels of 
the Scripture and to the demons of Greek philosophy. 
It is not easy clearly to apprehend how they were 
regarded even by Philo himself. They are not emana- 
tions from God, but what Plato calls “archetypal ideas,” 
on the model of which all created things were formed. 
They exist only in the divine thought, although they 
seem to have the attributes of personal beings. Strange 


PHILOS PECULIAR WORK. 299 


to say they are represented as being wholly in God 
and yet wholly out of God. ‘There seems to have been 
a struggle upon the part of Philo to apprehend some 
distinction like unto that between the unapproachable 
God and God manifest in the flesh.°®” 

Deel icalV ord ore Logos.) Lhe Worosiot Philo 
is the power or intelligence of God actively displayed. 
It is the idea which comprehends all other ideas, the 
power which comprises all other powers in itself, as 
the sum of all that is seen and all that is felt. Viewed 
in its bearings upon the teachings of the New Testa- 
ment this part of Philo’s system is much the most inter- 
esting of all; and yet it is just here that our difficulties 
are the greatest. The views expressed by Philo are 
hesitating and even contradictory. It is clear that he 
does not teach a concrete personality; and yet from 
another point of view the Logos is not strictly imper- 
sonal. Nor is it a property of the Deity himself, but 
the shadow, as it were, which the light of God casts. 
The Logos is necessary to his system because the 
Supreme God himself cannot enter into contact with 
the finite; and the Logos must stand between the two 
and be the medium of their mutual relation. As regards 
the world, the Logos is its real being. It is also the 
instrument through which it was created. ‘The Logos 
announces and interprets to man the mind of God, act- 
ing as a sort of mediator. Philo designates it not only 
peaticenuion ties ybut as they: Paracletew @ultis the 
sun which enlightens man, the medium of divine revela- 
tion to his soul. It is the manna which supports his 
spiritual life and brings righteousness and peace. 


(25) Greek Philosophy » Zeller, § 94. 


300 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


But the Logos of Philo is, nevertheless, shadowy and 
unreal. As High Priest he intercedes; but he offers no 
sacrifice, least of all the sacrifice of himself. It is the 
product rather of the Platonic philosophy with its doc- 
trine of the ‘‘soul of the world,” combined with the 
Stoic idea of the Deity as the “active reason” of the 
world. If the Stoic doctrine be stripped of its panthe- 
istic element and the Logos be distinguished from the 
Deity himself, we have the Logos of Philo almost with- 
out further definition. 

It should be noted at this point—though it be some- 
what of a digression, that attempts have been made to 
trace the meaning of the term “‘ Logos” as used in the 
opening chapter of St. John’s gospel, to the works of 
Philo. The Apostle John indeed may have been 
acquainted with his writings and with the doctrines of 
his school, but there is a wide fundamental difference 
between his teachings and those of the Alexandrian 
philosopher. 

St. Augustine contrasts the Logos of Platonism with 
the Logos of the Apostle John in his Confessions. 
He says that he read in certain Platonic books— 


“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning 
with God. All things were made by him, and without him was 
not anything made that hath been made. In him was life; and 
the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in dark- 
ness; and the darkness apprehended it not. The soul of man 
bears testimony concerning the light, though it is not the light 
itself. But that the Word of God—God—is the true light, 
which lighteth every man coming into the world; that the world 
was made by him, and the world knew him not; that he came 
unto his own, and his own received him not; but that to as many 


(26) Book VII; ch. ix. 


| 
| 
. 
i 
XK 
j 


——— 


ee eS ee se 


PHILO'S PECULIAR WORK 301 


as received him gave he power to become the sons of God, even 
to them that believe on his name—there I read not. I read in 
these books also that God—the Word—was not born of flesh, 
nor of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, 
but of God. But that the Word became flesh and dwelt among 
us I read not in them. JI found in them, by diligent search, that 
the Son is in the form of the Father; that he did not consider it 
robbery to be equal with God, because he was his equal by nature; 
and I found this expressed in various ways. But that he made 
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a serv- 
ant, and was made in the likeness of men; and that, being found 
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore, God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every 
name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father—these books do not contain. 
That he remains unchangeably thine only begotton and co-eter- 
nal Son before and above all times; that souls receive from his 
fullness that they may be happy—are contained in these books. 
But that in due time he died for the ungodly; and that thou 
didst not spare thine only Son, but didst deliver him up for us 
all—_are not found in them.” 


This quotation is quite sufficient to show the differ- 
ence between the New Testament Logos and that of 
Philo. The Apostle John derived his term not from 
Philo, but from the Old Testament and other Jewish 
writings. This we cannot attempt to show at length. 
It is, however, abundantly shown by the best scholar- 
Aothospote 

These are the most important doctrines embraced in 
the system of Philo. ‘There are a few others which 
may be briefly dismissed. 

4. The creation of the world. Notwithstanding the 


(27) See Christus Mediator, Elliott, Part I, ch. i. 


302 LHE TRANSFORMATION OF THE Fie Vi, 


presence of the intermediate powers the universe can- 
not be traced back originally to God, because the evil 
and the imperfect do not have their cause in him. It 
originates from a second principle, which is without 
form and without life. It was from this second prin- 
ciple that God created it. 

5. Lhe human soul. Philo teaches that the entire 
atmosphere is filled with souls. Those who dwell in 
the higher parts become the media of God's inter- 
course with the world. Those who dwell in the lower 
parts are attracted by the things of sense and descend 
into mortal bodies. Consequently the soul of man is 
nothing else than one of these divine powers, an emana- 
tion from the Deity, which in its original state was an 
angel or a demon. The body being the animal part of 
man is the source of all evil; the prison to which the 
spirit is banished, the corpse which the soul drags about 
with it. 

6. Morals. Philo substantially embraces the Stoic 
system of morals.°*) He adheres to its four cardinal 
virtues—temperance, prudence, justice and fortitude. 
Like the Stoics he teaches that there is only one good, 
morality; requires freedom from all passions and the 
greatest possible simplicity of life. He differs from the 
Stoics, however, in this; that while they referred man 
to his own strength Philo commended him to the help 
of God, who planted the virtues in his soul. True 
morality he teaches, as Plato did, is the imitation of 
the Deity. By falling away from God man was 
entangled in this life of sense; so he must struggle up 
out of it into the direct vision of God. He teaches 

(28) See //ibbert Lectures; 1888, vi. 


EFFECTS. 303 


that this object is attainable even in this earthly life; 
virtuous man is lifted above and out of himself and may 
recognize the Deity. He who attains to this vision of 
the divine has reached the highest degree of happiness. 
There only remains to him complete deliverance from 
his body, that the soul may return to its original condi- 
tion and rise to the higher sphere in which its life is 
like that of the angels again. He regarded the soul of 
a little child as naked, a sort of a “clean slate”? upon 
which God might write what he would; but this state 
was brought to an end so soon as the soul inclined in 
the least degree towards evil. From that time onward 
the man’s state became one of unrest, misery and unsat- 
isfied longing. If he persisted in his sin it would termi- 
nate in complete spiritual insensibility. There was 
therefore presented to the mind the alternative either of 
resisting his passions, imitating God, and at death being 
conducted into his original state of purity and associa- 
tion with the divine; or of yielding to his passions and 
ending in a sort of annihilation, which he himself illus- 
trates in the fate which overtook Lot’s wife. 


EFRECTS. 


Such, then, was the condition of Grecianism in its 
final form. It is not necessary for us to point out, after 
this review, the wide divergence between its doctrines 
and those of the ancient Jewish Church. It must be 
apparent also that while there was much in it that was 
both false and foolish, it had been the means of accom- 
plishing that which was absolutely necessary to the 
fulfillment of the promises relating to the call of the 
Gentiles. It manifested at least an honest attempt at 


304 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEW. 


reconciliation. Herein the awful chasm between heath- 
enism and Judaism was bridged from shore to shore. 
The Jew himself had gone out after his wandering 
brother, and while he had become, unfortunately, 
infected with many of that brother’s vagaries, he had 
at least succeeded in overcoming their mutual antipa- 
thies. The Gentile world had been brought to the 
threshold of the church, and were prepared to enter it. 
It only needed the correction of the errors which were 
contained in the Alexandrian system, and the diverting 
of their thought from the false reconciliation of divine 
affairs which it had given, to the only true explanation 
which was to be found in Christianity, in order to 
effect. the redemption of the mind from error and of the 
soul from sin. 

While there is much that is false in the teachings of 
Philo he certainly prepared the minds of many for the 
enlightened teachings of the New Testament. While 
he struggles with his irreconcilable theories regarding 
the unapproachable, and yet self-manifested God, he 
prepares the way for the teaching of the New Testa- 
ment concerning the Father in Heaven and the Son 
who reveals him. While the same inconsistency is 
betrayed by him with regard to the “ Word of God,” 
he affords at least a standing-place before the Gentiles 
for a much greater teacher, who by inspiration shall 
declare the true doctrine of the Eternal Word, who 
was “in the beginning with God” and who “was 
Codie 

We must therefore find the true successor of the 
Hebrew not in the Jew of Palestine but in the Jew of 


(29) See Bampton Lectures for 1866; Liddon, Lecture I, 1. 


EFFECTS. 305 


the dispersion. The Jew of Palestine was occupying 
himself with the attempt the more jealously to preserve 
his inheritance from the profane presence of the stranger. 
He would wall the faith of his fathers round about up 
to heaven, and preserve it for his own benefit and for 
that of his children. The Grecian, on the other hand, 
would break down the wall upon every side, and admit 
all who would enter to the enjoyment of its privileges. 
The Jew of Palestine looked forward to the coming of 
a Messiah who should be their peculiar property, and 
who would lead them in a holy warfare, wherein all 
nations should be subjugated and brought under their 
yoke. The Grecian yearned for the coming of a great 
teacher who would lead, not only himself, but all with 
whom he was associated, both Jew and Gentile, to the 
knowledge of the truth. The Judaism of Palestine was 
ossified in its exclusiveness, its isolation and its pride. 
It was an old fig-tree withered at the roots. The Juda- 
ism of the dispersion was quickened into the promise 
of new life by its contact with the thought of the heathen 
world. It was a cutting from the old tree, growing in 
new soil, putting forth fresh green leaves, and budding 
for a glorious fruitage. The multitude of the disper- 
sion, rather than the minority of Palestine, were to 
become the missionaries of the world. Grecian thought 
and Grecian methods were to become the medium 
through which the kingdoms of the world were to be 
embraced in the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. 
Judaism shall be set aside; Grecianism in a meas- 
ure adopted. The Jew shall experience a yet greater 
transformation; and having become a “new creature” 
shall extend the blessings of the new covenant to the 
whole wide world. 


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CHAPTER XI. 


THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


BPROPHE RCs FORECAST. 


While the Jews were in captivity at Babylon the 
prophet Daniel had been called before Nebuchadnezzar 
to interpret the dream wherein he had seen an image 
whose head was of gold, whose breast and arms 
were of brass, whose legs were of iron, and whose feet 
were part of iron and part of clay.“ The prophet 
declared that it represented four great world-empires. 
Nebuchadnezzar himself was the head of gold. After 
him should arise another kingdom inferior to his own; 
following that, a third kingdom of brass, and finally a 
fourth kingdom; each to bear rule over the entire earth. 
These different kingdoms were respectively the Baby- 
lonian, the Persian, the Macedonian and the Roman; 
and each was characterized in the most remarkable 
language. The various metals of which the image 
was composed represented them in order; Babylonia, 
gold; Persia, selver; Macedonia, brass; and Rome, 
zron. A similar vision was also accorded to the pro- 
phet Daniel himself. He saw four beasts coming up 
out of the sea, the first like a lion, with an eagle’s wings; 
the second like a bear, holding three ribs in its mouth; 
the third like a leopard, with four wings upon its back 


(1) Daniel, ii. (2) Daniel, vii. 


A 


308 THE UNIFICATION CPLA E Worle. 


and having four heads; and the fourth a beast dreadful 
and terrible and strong exceedingly, with great iron 
teeth, which broke in pieces and stamped under its feet 
those that opposed it, and which was diverse from the 
beasts which had preceded it. The same empires are 
indicated in this vision of the prophet with the same 
careful distinctions in regard to their character; the 
lion, with the eagle’s wings, denoting Babylonia; the 
bear, with three ribs in its mouth, Persia; the leopard, 
with its four wings, Macedonia, and the indescribable 
beast, Rome. We cannot exhibit at length the appli- 
‘cation of these visions to the empires which they 
described; but we note particularly with regard to the 
last one that ¢¢ was diverse fromthe emptres which had 
preceded 2t—a distinction which seems to have occupied 
the mind of the prophet, inasmuch as he gives it special 
emphasis in its repetition. The character of this diver- 
sity 1s probably indicated in the words of Daniel in con- 
nection with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar: ‘‘ Whereas 
thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall min- 
gle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not 
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with 


’ Daniel still further informed Nebuchadnezzar 


clay.’ 
that in the days of these kings the God of heaven would 
set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed; as 
the stone cut out of the mountain without hands had 
broken in pieces the image of his dream. At the con- 
clusion of his own vision also it was made known to 
him that with the decline of the dominion of the last 
empire, ‘The kingdom and dominion and the greatness 
of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given 


to the people of the saints of the Most High whose 


PROPAHELILC FORLCAST: 309 


kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions 
shall serve and obey him.” 

The prophecies of Daniel had been in the course of 
fulfillment since the Babylonian captivity. ‘The em- 
pires of Persia and of Macedonia had passed away, and 
Rome was now in possession of the world. Let us 
endeavor to ascertain in what respects the empire of 
Rome was diverse from the empires which had pre- 
ceded it, and whether its diversity was such as to pro- 
mote the establishment of that spiritual kingdom which 
the God of Heaven should set up. 

Preceding empires have been called in common with . 
that of Rome “ wnzversal.” They succeeded in exer- 
cising dominion over a large portion of the earth’s 
surface and the civilized peoples of the earth. In the 
kingdoms which preceded Rome, however, subject 
nations had been ruled by sheer force, without any at- 
tempt upon the part of the conqueror either to adapt his 
government to their forms of life or to persuade them 
to adopt the habits of the sovereign people. ‘They 
effected, therefore, a mere agglomeration of people in 
which there was no “‘ mixture’? whatsoever, not even 
so much as might be produced in the combination of 
iron and clay. The world was held together by the 
imperious will of a single man, by the military force 
which he was able to command and by the military 
statesmanship which he had the capacity to exhibit. 
Inasmuch as there was no coherence between the dif- 
ferent parts of the empire it naturally fell to pieces so 
soon as the binding force of a strong central sover- 
eignty was removed. 

In such a state there could be no sympathy whatso- 


310 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


ever between the members of different races. There 
could scarcely be any intercourse. Prejudice, jealousy 
and hostility would be supreme; and instead of the 
promotion of fraternal feelings the tendency would be 
in an entirely opposite direction. It is plain, therefore, 
that the extension of the hope of Israel to the other 
nations of the world could not possibly have taken 
place under an empire of this character. If that ex- 
tension were to be world-wide there must necessarily 
be, in order to its promotion, something which should 
at least approach world-wide unification. 


This was the chief respect in which the Roman em- 


pire differed from the other universal empires which ~ 


had preceded it, and the endeavor will now be made 
to show how that unification was brought about. 


OP SPAR EY Pris Ryo lao ee 


The geographical position of Rome from the first 
furnished the opportunity for her to become a great 
empire. The Mediterranean was the central sea of 
the ancient world, and about it dwelt the cultivated 
nations. Into the very midst of this sea projected the 
long peninsula of Italy, and in the very midst of this 
peninsula—the central point of the central country of 
the world—was located the predestined imperial city. 
From this point the world was to be conquered and 
controlled, and for this purpose the Romans were pre- 
pared by temperament and by the discipline of history. 
They were warriors from the beginning. They never 
were in love with peace; they were never fond of the 
problems of thought; they were never skillful in the 


(3) See Confiict of Christianity with Heathenism ,; Ulhorn, p. 15. 


Se ee ee ee 


: 
+ 
; 
; 
: 


LMM ARE IT AISLORT (OF ROME: 311 


arts, but from the beginning they were passionately 
devoted to deeds of prowess and most sagacious in 
their political methods. They possessed also from the 
beginning a rare faculty of assimilation and a great 
gift for organization, legislation and government. ‘They 
were skilled in the mechanic arts. They were natural 
engineers. They knew how to make roads and build 
bridges and construct walls and castles, as well as how 
to assault or defend them. 

At first they were disposed to divide the world into 
two classes only: friends to be protected, enemies to 
be subdued. Unless there were a special league to 
the contrary they believed that the only law between 
them and those of another race was the law of the 
stronger, which entitled them to subjugate any whom 
they might plunder or enslave. The tribe which 
lived upon the bank of a river opposite to that upon 
which the Romans had settled, became their “ rzva/s” 
—the word itself meaning simply the dwellers upon 
the side of a stream.® Inthe most loyal adherence 
to this terrible principle, as expressed in the words, 
“ Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy,” 
the Romans completed their initial history. 

From the very beginning of their history, however, 
the Romans were obliged by the force of circum- 
stances to curb their natural ferocity and modify the 
odious distinctions which they would gladly have pre- 
served between themselves and their conquered sub- 
jects. They were compelled, in order to their own 
preservation, to court the alliance of aliens and to ex- 


(4) History of the Romans Under the Empire, Merivale, ch. 1. 
(5) Life of Christ, Geike, ch. i. 


312 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


tend to them a share in their own exclusive privileges. 
In this way the races of the Italian peninsula were con- 
solidated previous to the inauguration of the era of 
foreign conquest, and a policy adopted whereby the 
iron should be mixed with clay and the unification of 
the world promoted. 

In 250 B. C. the power of Rome is rising in the sub- 
jugation of Italy. Then follows the long struggle with 
Carthage, in which it seems for a time as though an 
African city might become the mistress of Italy, Eu- 
rope and the world. But in the year 146 B. C., at the 
close of the third Punic war, Carthage is captured and 
destroyed. Only a tenth part of the inhabitants are 
left alive, and these are sold into slavery. The city is 
set on fire and almost entirely consumed, and its terri- 
tory becomes a Roman province. Although Sicily, 
Sardinia, Corsica, a portion of Spain, Illyricum and 
parts of Gaul had been already subjugated, yet the 
domination of Rome really dates from this point, in 
the extinction of her only formidable rival. 

Only 150 years now remain until the Messiah shall 
appear; but in that century and a half Rome shall pos- 
sess herself of the world and accomplish the task of its © 
unification. With what marvelous rapidity it is done! 
Macedonia is subjugated, Corinth is taken and de- 
stroyed, and all Greece is reduced to a Roman pro- 
vince within the space of twenty-five years. Then 
follows the era of the civil wars, the Jugerthine war 
and the Italian war, during which Italy is ravaged and 
desolated; but these conflicts produce this most im- 
portant result—the imperial city is constrained to 
make all Italy, with a few unimportant exceptions, the 


THE EMPIRE: FULIUS CAtSAR. seaeig) 


equal of herself in all Roman privileges. Then follows 
a period of rapid extension under the command of 
those great generals, Sylla, Pompey and Julius Cesar. 
Sylla captured Athens 86 B. C., defeated Archelaus, 
the general of Mithridates, in the great battle of Cheer- 
onea, and insured the Roman domination in Asia 
Minor, 84 B. C. Pompey exterminated the pirates 
who had made the navigation of the Mediterranean 
unsafe even for Roman vessels of war, 63 B.C.; drove 
Mithridates into Armenia and overthrew the Syrian 
kingdom of the Seleucid; entered Judzea and captured 
Jerusalem, establishing in the Roman territories of 
Asia the two provinces of Pontus and Syria, and re- 
turned to Rome 61 B. C. 

Julius Cesar, after years devoted to literature and 
oratory, undertook the conquest of Gaul when he was 
forty years of age, returning in eight years to Rome, 
after the most brilliant success, to engage in war with 
Pompey. In the defeat of the latter he was elevated 
to supreme power, and Rome is elevated with him. 
The world is now at his feet, he sees no strong or 
worthy resistance on the whole broad horizon. But 
the extensive dominions of Rome cannot be held with- 
out a stronger central government. ‘The Republic 
must give way to the Empire. 


iho ee yiPin es WELLS sc ASA: 


The construction of the empire was virtually the 
work of Julius Cesar. Although his reputation rests 
chiefly upon his military exploits, it would yet be very 
unjust to his character to conceive of him merely as a 
conqueror. Indeed, its very completeness makes it 


314 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


difficult to obtain a distinct grasp of his individuality. 
In every relation of life he attained, apparently with- 
out an effort, to the highest excellence; as an orator, 
a politician, a general, a man of letters, and a states- 
man.“ He entered into active life at the great crisis 
in his country’s history. The Romans, in consequence 
of their strong national individuality, their bravery 
and the unity of their purpose, had won the suprem- 
acy of the world, but the qualities which were able to 
conquer an empire were not able to govern it. Those 
who belonged to families of distinction no longer emu- 
lated the virtues of their forefathers. The sense of 
justice no longer prevented the cruelties which are apt 
to be shown in connection with the exercise of power, 
and Rome was in greater danger than ever before, and 
in greater danger than at any time afterwards (until 
the death of the Antonines ), of falling by its own weight. 
Even the rights which had been granted to the Latins 
and Italians could not be assured without an entire 
change of government, as those who were in power 
were sadly lacking in a sense of responsibility. The 
riches of the world were beginning to flow into the’ 
city, exciting the cupidity of those who enjoyed them. 
The demoralization which ‘always accompanies the 
breaking up of old principles and the adjustment of 
new conditions manifested itself. The statesmen of 
the age were unable to understand it or to regulate it. 
Violence and misrule consequently ensued. Each po- 
litical victory was achieved in the blood of the van- 
quished, and the Senate, which had conquered the 
world, was unable to defend itself. It could not exer- 


(6) Merivale, ch. xxii. 


THE EMPIRE: $ULIUS C/ZSAR. 31 


DB 


cise the ordinary functions of government without 
temporarily intrusting to some citizen those autocratic 
powers which might be turned against itself. ‘There 
was great danger of Rome perishing in the crisis and 
leaving but a faint impress upon the nations whom she 
had subdued. ‘That the great empire did not fall be- 
fore some Eastern conqueror, or break up into petty 
kingdoms parcelled out among her great citizens, is 
due, so far as we are able to judge, to Julius Cesar 
alone. He was a totally different man from the others 
which were produced by the age, and it is to his 
genius and foresight, under providence, that the future 
career of the imperial city was due. He was a man 
of the most extensive mental culture, of most indomi- 
table purpose, and gifted, perhaps, as none whom the 
world has ever seen, in intellectual resources. He 
attained distinction in the forum with the same ease 
that he won it inthe field. During the long period 
that he remained in Rome he gave his time and 
strength to the work of reviving the democratic spirit, 
and through his influence, the power of the tribunes of 
the people was restored and that of the Senate dimin- 
ished. In the meantime Pompey had received the 
command against the pirates of the Mediterranean 
and the control of the Mithridatic war. He had been 
invested with absolute control for three years over the 
whole of the Mediterranean Sea, from the Straits of 
Gibraltar to the coasts of Syria, and for fifty miles in- 
land, and under him were twenty-five pretors of sen- 
atorial rank chosen by himself. It appears, therefore, 
that there was scarcely any of the Roman territory 
which was not instructed to obey him. Cesar still 


316 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


remained in Rome, devoting himself to law and the 
improvement of the capital city. He took charge of 
the public buildings, decorated the forum, built the 
basilica which bore his name, and erected porticos 
under the capitol for the reception of the works of 
SECek tart 

After a time Pompey returned from the east and 
disbanded his army, and coincident with his discharge 
of a military office Cesar assumed one and left for 
Spain. Here he exhibited for the first time those qual- 
ities which distinguished him in the larger sphere with 
which his name was to be afterwards associated. On 
his return he again devoted himself to law and to the 
amendment of some measures with which he was dis- 
satisfied; by which means he was enabled to suppress 
the bribery and corruption which were common among 
the public functionaries and even among his own sub- 
ordinates. ‘These measures aroused the hostility of 
the Senate and of other influential men in the state, 
and they thought to get rid of him by passing a law 
which gave him the provinces of Gaul for five years, 
with the command of four legions. After receiving 
this commission Cesar staid in the neighborhood of 
the city just long enough to secure the election of his 
friends as consuls, and then set out for the country 
which has ever since been identified with his name. 

We cannot describe in detail the marvelous work 
which occupied him for the next eight years. The labor 
was stupendous. He was obliged to march and coun- 
termarch through an unknown country, finding his own 
way through woods, across mountains and over rivers; 
building his own bridges, making his own maps and 


Ee 


— Es OU 


SS ee SC 


THE EMPIRE: FULIUS CASAR. ary 


planning campaigns against enemies whose numbers and 
location were very imperfectly known. The reader is 
aware of the magnificent success which he achieved. In 
the year 52 B. C. he won the final victory over Vercin- 
getorix, a general second only to himself among the war- 
riors of that age, and reduced Gaulto subjection. The 
following year saw the final pacification of the country. 
It never attempted afterwards to revolt, but remained 
a contented part of the Roman Empire, loyal and even 
enthusiastic. Onno other subject country did Rome 
succeed in so impressing her language, laws and civili- 
zation, and from no other did she draw so many loyal 
legions. 

In the success which Czesar had achieved it became 
evident that a collision must soon arise between him- 
self and his great but more ambitious rival Pompey. 
The details of the quarrel are somewhat complicated 
and cannot be herenarrated. It had its root however in 
the desire of the Senate to advance Pompey and humili- 
ate Cesar, and in Cesar’s knowledge of the fact that 
he could not trust himself to the power cof his enemies. 
Yet he displayed great moderation inthecrisis. He gave 
up two legions which were demanded of him, and pro- 
posed to the Senate that both Pompey and himself 
should simultaneously disarm. Although the motion 
was carried in the Senate, Pompey refused to act upon 
it, on the plea that Cesar was returning with his army 
into Northern Italy. Czesar therefore crossed the Rubi- 
con 49 B. C., and the struggle for supreme power 
began. The conflict lasted for five years, during which 
he crushed the armies of his enemies as he found them, 
in almost every part of Europe, as well as in Asia and 


318 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


Africa, and thereby laid the foundations for his own 
imperial power and that of his successors very deep 
and strong. In July, 45 B.C., he entered Rome as 
conqueror, and undertook to find leisure to govern the 
world which he had subdued. One more struggle, 
however, was necessary, before peace was finally con- 
cluded. The sons of Pompey had collected a large 
army in Spain. Cesar was obliged to march against 
them, the expedition resulting in their entire defeat. 
A few months afterwards he was assassinated. 

During the brief intervals which he had spent at 
Rome, as well as in consequence of the influence which 
he was able to exercise even while he was absent, he 
had produced a mighty change in the character of the 
Roman government. He increased the number of the 
Senate to nine hundred, thus making it more thoroughly 
representative of all classes and all parts of the empire. 
He increased the number of civil magistrates and 
reformed the courts of justice. He gave the rights of 
citizenship to men of science and to those who professed 
the liberal arts. He enforced the law without favor, 
and attempted, though with little success, to restrain 
the luxury of the age. In brief he succeeded in restor- 
ing to Rome the reputation which it had forfeited, of 
being just with regard to the rights of men and liberal 
with regard to their needs and sentiments. His spirit 
and policy were cosmopolitan. While he scandalized 
the conservative Romans by filling the offices witn 
foreigners he succeeded thereby in winning not only 
the allegiance, but the positive affection of those whom 
he had himself subdued. The tendency of the imperial 


(7) See Beginnings of Christianity , Fisher, p. 51. 


AUGUSTUS. 319 


system which he inaugurated, in consequence of that 
which he himself had done, was from the beginning 
towards administrative uniformity and the effacing of 
the distinction between the conquerors and the con- 
quered, citizen and subject. It must be clear proof 
that his rule was beneficent that the provinces rejoiced 
when that of the Senate was subverted and the Imper- 
ial government took its place. These sentiments, 
indeed, scarcely experienced any change, even during 
the reign of the profligate emperors who subsequently 
ruled. . With Julius Cesar, therefore, Rome became 
not merely the mistress of the world; but its center, 
its capital. ‘The Roman spirit was extended through- 
out the provinces, their subjects became its citizens, 
and at length the chief rulers of the State were taken 
from those provinces and from the barbarians them- 
selves. A leveling influence was introduced which 
produced a sense of equality among men. 


AUGUSTUS. 


In the death of Julius Czesar the great work to which 
he had devoted his talents and his energies was left 
incomplete; the empire was not yet actually established 
nor the world consolidated. This was now to become 
the task of his successor. 

In the assassination of Cesar the senatorial party, 
led by Brutus and Cassius, seemed to be triumphant; 
but he had in his will named his grand-nephew and 
adopted son, Octavius, as his heir, and he appeared at 
once to challenge the murderers of his benefactor. He 
was yet a youth in his nineteenth year and was study- 
ing in Epyrus under the rhetorician Apollodorus; but 


220 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


so soon as the news of his bereavement reached him, 
he hastened to Italy and claimed the inheritance which 
had been bequeathed to him. He conducted himself 
with a prudence and moderation far beyond his years, 
received the loyal support of the Cesarian veterans, 
entered into an alliance with Marcus Antonius and 
was speedily acknowledged as the head of the popular 
party, while Brutus and Cassius fled from Italy. These 
two great champions of the Senate and the Republic 
were finally confronted by the two great leaders of 


the people and the Empire, upon the battle-field of 


Philippi, in Thrace. Here, at last, the aristocracy was 
humiliated and the Republic perished, Brutus and Cas- 
sius both committing suicide. 

For a time Octavius and Antonius divided the gov- 
ernment between them, the former being supreme in 
the West, the latter in the East. But final collision 
and a struggle for the undivided dominion was inevi- 
table. A quarrel arose between them, which culmi- 
nated in the battle of Actium (B. C. 31) and the death 
of Antonius. Octavius returned to Rome, the mas- 
ter of the world. 

Events were thus shaped by the guiding hand of 
divine providence in order to the accomplishment of 
the divine purpose. The world must be brought under 


a single government, and that government such as_ 


should be adapted to the dissemination of the Gospel. 
It was for this that Brutus and Cassius were permitted 
to suffer defeat at Philippi and Antonius at Actium. 
Had Brutus and Cassius prevailed, the unification of the 
world would have been indefinitely delayed; had Anto- 


(8) See Merivale, xxiv. 


AUGUSTUS. 321 


nius conquered, the empire would have been an Asi- 
atic despotism, and Europe, in which the noblest tri- 
umphs of the cross were to be secured, would have 
been rent and torn by barbarians, if indeed it could 
have succeeded in throwing off the alien yoke. As it 
was, a young man, everyway qualified to rule, was put 
in possession of supreme power, and the world was 
prepared for the Redeemer. 

On the return of Octavius to Rome he received the 
unqualified support of all classes. The Senate decreed 
to him unlimited powers, and he devoted himself to 
civil affairs. The peace for which the Roman people 
had sighed for generations had come at length, and 
the doors of the temple of Janus which had stood upon 
their rusting hinges from times immemorial were at 
last closed. The empire was now to enjoy a period of 
profound tranquility, during which the Prince of Peace 
himself was to appear, attended by those shining min- 
isters who should sing over his cradle their message of 
(peace.on-earth.”’ 

In the meantime the organization of the empire was 
completed. It extended from the Atlantic to the Eu- 
phrates, a distance of more than three thousand miles; 
and from the Danube and the English Channel to the 
cataracts of the Nile. Rome was the capital of the 
world, and in her emperor, Octavius, she also had 
received a “head of gold.” Her subjects were secure, 
prosperous, and, so far as they could be made so by 
temporal benefits, happy. The unification of the world 
had been accomplished. 


22 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


ROMAN LAW. 


We have thus far indicated, however, only the ex- 
ternal history, and it remains for us to inquire con- 
cerning those internal influences which had served to 
bring about this result. It had not been accomplished 
by the instrumentality of war alone, nor by the sole 
power of its great conquerors. An intellectual dis- 
cipline had been in progress from the earliest times, 
and especially, since the overthrow of the early Roman 
kingdom, under the Republic, which had culminated 
with Julius Cesar and the organization of the empire.” 
Returning to the time of the foundation of the Repub- 
lic we find that in the expulsion of its kings Rome was 
left in the condition of a house divided against itself. 
The patricians, who belonged to the royal party, and 
who were still its representatives, were accustomed to 
decide every question and to use their strength and 
influence in a manner which was most oppressive to 
the people. In consequence there arose a conflict be- 
tween the patricians and the plebeians, which was not 
to be allayed until the latter had obtained just rights 
and recognition. ‘The patricians, with whom was the 
wealth as well as the power, had enforced the most 
rigorous laws against their debtors, loading them with 
chains, driving them from their homes and entailing 
great suffering upon their families. The public lands, 
which had been obtained by conquest, were taken by 
the patricians for themselves for a very moderate 
rental, which in many cases was merely nominal and 
often was not paid at all. The plebeians were still 


(9) An excellent resume of the subject here treated will be found in 
Labberton's (New) fistorical Atlas. 


ROMAN LAW. 


seo 
further deprived of the opportunity to acquire small 
holdings, or even to till those which they did not pos- 
sess, by employment of slave labor; and yet, notwith- 
standing the fact that their rights were denied them, 
they were obliged to bear the burden of military 
service. At length they arose in a body, probably 
returning from some victory—the details are not 
known—and encamped upon the Sacred Mount, three 
miles from Rome, where they declared their determi- 
nation of remaining in order to found another rival 
city. This movement of the plebeians brought about 
an agreement between themselves and the patricians, 
whereby it was stipulated (494 B. C.) that the former 
should elect magistrates of their own, to be known as 
‘“'Tribunes of the People,” who should have the right 
to interpose a veto upon any legal or administrative 
measure. ‘To secure to the plebeians this new right 
it was decreed that the persons of the ‘Tribunes were 
sacred, and that whosoever used violence against them 
should be declared an outlaw. From this time onward 
the rights of the common people were more and more 
acknowledged, until finally they stood upon equal foot- 
ing with all others in the councils of the State. A new 
assembly, known as the Council of the Tribes (Com- 
itia Tributa), was instituted, in which the plebeians 
exercised legislative functions, the patricians still re- 
taining their own assembly, the Council of the Senate 
(Comitia Curiata). The rivalry between the two par- 
ties, however, continued until the state of matters had 
become intolerable, when, in the year 460 B. C., the 
tribunes of the people demanded that a commission 
should be appointed to define in writing the jurisdic- 


324 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD, 


tion of the magistrates, in order that a check might 
be put upon the arbitrary and oppressive administra- 
tion of the patricians. Within a single year the ple- 
beians united upon this issue, requiring that the whole 
law, public and private, should be codified, that its 
uncertainty might be removed. After a few years’ 
resistance the Senate gave its assent to a demand 
which it could no longer withstand. The result was 
embodied in the XII Tables, laws engraven upon 
wooden tablets, at first ten only, but in the next year 
extended to twelve, and formally completed 448 B. C.0 
Herein was the foundation of subsequent Roman law. 
The XII Tables were the Magna Charta of Roman 
freedom. The work was so thoroughly done that it 
required little amendment during the next two centu- 
Ties: 

It is worthy of note in passing that the institution of 
the XII Tables is almost cotemporaneous with the 
birth of Socrates and of Malachi. 

The XII Tables thus became the basis of what is 
known as Roman Civil Law (Jus Civile). Improve- 
ments were made in this law from time to time as the 
power of the people increased, but it was not suff- 
ciently comprehensive to become the permanent code 
of Rome, inasmuch as it contemplated only such a con- 
dition of affairs as existed while Rome was still a com- 
paratively insignificant city in possession of a restricted 
territory. After the destruction of Carthage, how- 
ever, the influx of strangers into the capital began; and 
rapidly increased. First, Latins and other allies; later, 
Greeks, Carthaginians and Asiatics of various tribes. 


(10) Ena. Brittanica: “ Roman Law.’ Mommsen; I, 365. 


ROMAN LAW. 325 


It became necessary, in order to the regulation of their 
affairs and the government of Rome under these new 
conditions, to provide a modification of the Civil Law 
inasmuch as it was applicable only to foreigners who 
were members of allied States, to which certain rights 
had been granted by treaty. The vast majority of those 
who settled in Rome were not, however, in this favored 
position, and even those who were, soon found that the 
Roman laws which applied to the acquisition of prop- 
erty and the discharge of contracts was too narrow 
for their requirements. Hence a second body of law 
was gradually developed, which is known as the “Law 
of Nations” (Jus Gentium ).“ Its application for a time 
seems to have been limited to transactions between 
non-citizens; or to those of citizens with non-citizens; 
but after a time it was also accepted in the dealings 
of citizens among themselves, and became an integral 
part of the Roman law. The condition of foreigners 
and of the common people in Rome was happily effected 
by the influence of this law. With the influx of strang- 
ers it was found that the administration was too oner- 
ous for a single magistrate, and therefore a second 
praetor was appointed. After a time the number of 
pretors was increased to four, and still later to six. 
Ceesar eventually raised their number to sixteen. But 
the ordinary administration of justice within the city 
was usually confined to two preetors, who represented 
the original incumbents of that office, and who came to 
be distinguished as the Praetor Urbanus, who had jur- 
isdiction in those cases which arose between Roman 


11) See Mommsen; I, 213. 


326 LHE ONIFICATION OF LAF WORLD: 


citizens and the Preetor Peregrinus, who had the super- 
vision of all others. 

In course of time, in consequence of the immense 
preponderance of the foreign subjects over the native 
subjects of Rome, the Law of Nations was preferred to 
the Civil Law; and this in turn led to other changes in 
the same direction, in which there was a struggle after 
a still higher ideal, which eventuated in a new form, 
known as the Natural Law (Jus Naturale). According 
to its principles, as defined by Cesar, there is a great 
community of gods and of men, of which each single 
country was only a portion or a constituent part, and 
the Laws of Rome should conform to those of this great 
community. ‘The Jus Naturale was thus intended to be 
a universal law, regulating the affairs of a universal 
empire, and conforming to those eternal principles by 
which the universe was governed—as Cesar says, 
“wisely commanding what is right, and prohibiting 


what is wrong.” 


By this principle the whole body of 
Roman law was affected. It even softened the legis- 
lation relating to slavery and modified the relations 
of master and slave. While the Civil Law studied 
only the interest of citizens and the Law of Nations 
those of freemen, irrespective of nationality, the Law 
of Nature, theoretically at least, took in all mankind. 
In this respect it was a greater advance upon the Law 
of Nations than that had been upon the Civil Law. It 
not only insured the rights of foreigners at Rome, but 
it insured the rights of all men everywhere, wherever 
the Romans were in power; and not only their rights 
but also their privileges—opening before them every 
avenue of advantage and every door of preferment, so 


ROMAN CITIZENSHIP. 324 


that men of foreign descent might be elected to the 


Senate, or even reach the throne itself. Thus was 
unification promoted. 


ROMAN I CITIZENSHIR: 


From the earliest times all the free inhabitants 
of Rome enjoyed equal rights. These rights were 
both public and private. The private rights of a 
Roman citizen were the power of legal marriage in the 
family of any other citizen, the power of making legal 
purchases and sales and of holding property, and the 
right to bequeath such property or inherit it. The 
public rights were the power of voting at any time 
when a citizen was allowed to vote, and eligibility to 
any office. The citizen enjoyed these rights not be- 
cause he lived within the Roman territory, but because 
he was a member of the Roman commonwealth—one 
of those by whom and for whom its law was estab- 
lished. The early theory, as we have already indicated, 
was that a man who sojourned within the bounds of 
a foreign state was at the mercy of the latter and might 
be dealt with as a slave, and that all that belonged to 
him might be appropriated by the first comer. He 
was outside the pale of the law. Without some sort 
of alliance with Rome a stranger had no right, even 
though he lived in the city itself, to claim any pro- 
tection either with regard to his person or his property. 
If he received any consideration it was through the 
appeal to the good offices of the magistrate, or through 
the intervention of some citizen to whom he was allied, 
and not by means of any civil action of his own. But 
after a time, in consequence of the additions to the body 


325 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


of the law which we have observed, the foreigner, who 
was regarded originally as an enemy (hostis), came to 
be regarded only as an alien (peregrinus). He was 
not a citizen of Rome, and therefore not entitled to 
the rights of .a citizen, nevertheless the Law of 
Nations recognized him as a freeman entitled to pro- 
tection. With the extension of the Roman dominion 
certain rights were also extended to the conquered 
towns. Municipal cities were established, the inhabi- 
tants of which, while sojourning in Rome, might exer: 
cise the rights of citizens; the private rights, at least, 
if not the public ones. Some of them were permitted 
to choose their own municipal officers. There were 
also Latin colonies which consisted of communities of 
Roman citizens who had settled upon lands ceded to 
the capital by their inhabitants, and who there formed 
the ruling class. In such colonies the citizens, while 
retaining their private rights, renounced their public 
ones. ‘here were also certain cities of a favored class, 
whose relation to Rome was specifically defined by 
treaty. In some cases these cities appointed their own 
magistrates, whereas they were generally ruled by 
those who had been sent out from Rome. Finally 
there were Roman colonies distinguished from Latin 
colonies in this, that they consisted of Roman citizens 
who had removed with their families to places selected 
by the government. They formed a military station. 
Their government was modeled after the government 
of Rome, and they retained all their rights as Roman 
citizens. By means of such colonies planted in selected 
places Italy was kept in subjection. 

It appears, then, that even under the Republic Ro- 


ROMAN CITIZENSAIP. 229 


man citizenship was quite extensive. But under the 
emperors, beginning with Julius Cesar, the privilege 
of Roman citizenship was very widely extended. It 
might be acquired by purchase, by military service, by 
favor, or by manumission; and a right once obtained 
descended to a man’s children—even though he were 
not of Roman origin.. Many of the Jews who ren- 
dered service to Julius Cesar in the Egyptian war 
were probably made Roman citizens. Among the 
privileges attached to this privileged class, in addition 
to those we have mentioned, were the following very 
important ones; they could not be bound or imprisoned 
without a formal trial; they might not be scourged; 
they had the right to trial before a Roman magistrate 
and they were permitted to appeal from a provincial 
tribunal to the Emperor himself. 

No such rights as these were given by any of the 
great empires which had preceded Rome to their con- 
quered subjects, and it is apparent that the humane 
provisions of Roman law (notwithstanding its external 
severity ), and the wide toleration which the adherents 
of all religions and the members of all races enjoyed 
under its administration, and more particularly the ex- 
tension of the peculiar privileges which were afforded 
in Roman citizenship, must have availed to draw the 
diverse peoples of the world into a closer association, 
and to produce a much greater degree of unification 
than had ever been exhibited in the history of the 
world. It had been foreshadowed by the poet Terence 
(born 195 B. C.), who, anticipating the best sentiment 
of Rome as expressed in its law, had written: ‘“FTomo 


sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.” 


220 LTHE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


ROMAN ROADS AND TRAVELERS. 


This unification was still further promoted by the 
facility of intercourse which was enjoyed by the in- 
habitants of the empire. The Roman territory was 
covered with a network of magnificent roads. The 
most celebrated of these was the Appian Way, which 
was commenced by Appius Claudius 312 B. C., 
who extended it from Rome to Capua. It was ulti- 
mately continued to Brundusium, a total length of 
about 350 miles, and was completed about 30 B. C. 
It was the model for all the other roads subsequently 
constructed. Upon a carefully prepared foundation 
were placed huge blocks of hard stone which were 
fitted to each other with great exactness. Its breadth 
was from fourteen to eighteen feet, including the foot- 
paths. It is in use even at the present day, the orig: 
inal pavement being still traveled in a number of 
places. Five such main roads went out from Rome 
to the extremities of the empire, and these, with their 
branches running in whatever direction public con- 
venience required, were connected at the sea-ports 
with the routes of maritime travel. Ordinarily they 
moved in straight lines, crossing mountains and bridg- 
ing rivers, binding together the most remote cities and 
connecting them all with the capital. A journey might 
have been made over these highways, interrupted only 
by brief voyages, from Alexandria to Carthage, thence 
through Spain and France to Northern Britain, re- 
turning by way of Leyden, Cologne and Milan, con- 
tinuing eastward to Constantinople, crossing the Hel- 
lespont and proceeding through Asia Minor to Antioch, 
and returning again to Alexandria. The traveler 


THETA PPLAN WAY: 


1 


a 


ROMAN ROADS AND TRAVELERS oT 


would thus have gone about the whole circumference 
of the Roman empire 


a journey exceeding seven 
thousand miles. During the whole distance he could 
measure his progress by the milestones along the 
roads; he would be furnished with maps of the routes, 
ceiving the distance from place to place; he would find 
stopping-places for the night provided for him; a sys- 
tem of postal conveyances used by the officers and 
agents of the government, together with the means of 
travel for the public generally. In the large cities he 
could hire carriages and arrange for continuing his 
journey by a method somewhat resembling the mod- 
ern post-coach.“” 

It must also be remembered that the traveler through 
the entire course of his journey would certainly be 
able to make himself understood in the use of one of 
two languages, the Greek or the Roman. He would 
find, in general, Greek spoken throughout the East, and 
Latin throughout the West; although the Latin lan- 
guage was spoken to some extent where the Greek 
prevailed, and wece versa. North of Italy the Gauls 
had very rapidly succumbed to the influence of Roman 
customs, and had adopted the Roman language. ‘The 
same effect had followed in Spain to a greater or less 
degree. Latin was the language of the court and of 
the camp. Roman magistrates, wherever they were, 
promulgated their laws and decrees in their own 
tongue, and both Romans and Greeks were so widely 
distributed and in such great numbers that one who 
spoke either language, but not the other, would find 
some persons in every considerable place with whom he 


(12) Beginnings of Christianity , Fisher, p. 62. 


THE UNIFICATION OF THE’ WOLLD. 


jo” 
could communicate. Wherever he went, his person 
and property would be secure, and particularly after 
the accession of Augustus the universal tranquility of 
the world would in itself be a temptation to travel. 
Merchants would be disposed to visit foreign markets 
and negotiate with their distant correspondents in per- 
son. Their property was as secure upon the sea as 
upon the land, for the pirates had been swept from the 
Mediterranean. The annexation of Egypt by Augus- 
tus enabled him to establish a new road for commerce 
with the East by way of the Nile and Arabian Gulf, 
and over such highways the merchants of Rome and 
of other great cities visited every land. ‘They went 
with their caravans to Ethiopia and India. ‘They had 
their ports of trade in Britain and Ireland. The lux- 
ury of the capital stimulated their trade, and whatever 
could gratify the palate was brought from all quarters 
to the markets of Rome. ‘The sea was alive with ves- 
sels and the land with wagons, transporting to the im- 
perial city and to the other great centers of civilization 
the products of every clime. 

But commercial gain was not the only motive which 
impelled to travel. Journeys were undertaken through 
scientific curiosity and the desire for knowledge. Each 
province had its particular seat of education to which 
students resorted. Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Anti- 
och, Corinth and Jerusalem were frequented by those 
who came as students from all parts of the world. In 
some cities chairs of instruction were established by 
the state, and the result somewhat resembled a modern 
university. Teachers of philosophy and of rhetoric 
journeyed from city to city. Artists in marble and 


ROMAN ROADS AND TRAVELERS. Ae 


oil led a wandering life, as they journeyed in the pur- 
suance of their vocations, or were summoned from city 
to city for some task requiring their skill. Great pub- 
lic festivals also drew together throngs of spectators, 
and religious ceremonies of various kinds exercised an 
attractive power. Visits were paid to the shrines of 
heathenism; invalids undertook long journeys in the 
quest of health; tourists visited different countries to 
inspect historical places or gratify their curiosity. The 
celebrated localities of Egypt, Palestine, Greece and 
Italy possessed the same fascination over lovers of an- 
tiquity which similar places exercise to-day, and finally 
there were places of fashionable resort where multitudes 
collected at the proper season to indulge in gaiety, dis- 
sipation and intrigue. 

But in all these great movements Rome was the 
Geutci masmnOpcity las) been, either’ before or since: 
Everything and everybody tended towards Rome. 
Whoever desired anything in art or science, or pos: 
sessed anything which he wish to have recognized; 
whoever hoped to gain any right, or expected any 
advancement, or coveted any honor, or aimed at the 
acquisition of wealth, or desired for himself to see the 
wonders of the world, went to Rome. In the markets 
Simtieminiperials City the cultivated’ Greek met the 
ignorant provincial; the merchant of Alexandria, who 
had come to speculate in corn, was joined by the half- 
savage African, who perhaps had come with a collec- 
tion of wild animals for the amphitheatre.“ The 
Syrian, the Gaul, the Jew, the Thracian, and the repre- 
sentatives of many other peoples, jostled each other 

(13) Conflict of Christianity with Fleathenism ,; Ullhorn, p. 17. 


334 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


upon the streets. The current toward Rome had also 
a corresponding one outward into the provinces, both 
promoting the fusion of the nations. Over the Roman 
roads marched the legions to keep control of the sub- 
jugated world or to protect its boundaries. Pro-con- 
suls and preetors went into the provinces to administer 
law and justice. Couriers bore the edicts of the 
Emperor from the center to the circumference of the 
empire, and Romans of distinction journeyed to gain a 
knowledge of the world. The members of Roman col- 
onies also, who had themselves originally lived in 
Rome, or whose fathers had lived there, went back 
and forth on their errands of business or pleasure. 


RESULTS: 


Certainly this is the picture of an Empire “ diverse ” 
from all its predecessors. Under what wonderful 
influences the fusion of races was accomplished and the 
unification of the world promoted! No such picture 
as is presented in the Roman Empire was ever exhib- 
ited by the extension of the Babylonian, the Persian or 
the Macedonian power. ‘These kingdoms had simply 
collected multitudes of men under the sway of a single 
master; they were colossal despotisms. ‘They had 
brought their subjects together under a central power 
and put an end to their tribal wars. Nations were 
held together in a single bundle; but the rights of 
individuals were never esteemed, and the nations them- 
selves were never assimilated. ‘The former empires 
were conglomerates; reminding one of certain rocks 
consisting of widely different constituents, kept in place 
by the pressure which has been exerted upon them. 


RES ULTS: SR5 


Even under the dominion of the Greeks, who had 
attached much moral value to the individual and 
developed a system of laws in which the will of the 
despot was superseded, there was no coherence between 
the small communities ®£ which their commonwealth 
was composed. ‘Their confederacies were easily dis- 
solved and theretons easil\gcrushed by the common 
enemy. Alex#nde? foundel no united dominion. His 
empire fell to pieces at his death. Rome on the con- 
trary, moving forward with a slower advance and 
developing by a certain method of accretion whereby 
she was enabled to assimilate that which she added to 
herself, held what she won, not by the iron grasp of a 
despot, but by the sagacious policy of a state, which, 
without overturning local customs and laws, dissolved 
the political bonds of the nations which she subjugated 
by establishing still stronger bonds of connection with 
herself. She treated her colonies and dependencies so 
justly that she found in the very communities which 
she had annexed, her most trustworthy supporters. 

In consequence of this Roman policy the nations 
which had lived and labored apart, together with all 
their gains and their achievements, their forms of life 
and of activity, their philosophies and their religions, 
were comprised in one great empire. There has never 
been another in the whole course of history which so 
united in itself the cultivated nations of its own time. 
And when in addition, we remember the unifying 
effect which had been produced through the extension 
of Greek thought and the dispersion of the Jewish 
religion, we are constrained to believe that Almighty 
God, in his divine providence had himself prepared 


3 36 THE UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD. 


the world for the reception of a revelation, in which 
not only its unification but its positive unity should be 
at last exhibited, and the yearnings of mankind for 
social combination and spiritual fellowship be satisfied. 


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CHAPTER. =X LI, 
tine ON SOMIDATIONS Of MSRABL 


In the preceding chapters we have followed through 
five centuries the converging lines of divine providence 
as they at once approach each other and the person of 
the coming Redeemer. Yet one element remains and 
that perhaps the most important—the history of that 
portion of the chosen people who occupied the chosen 
land and inherited its ancestral customs. The Re- 
deemer is to appear in this land; he is to be sent to this 
people. How, then, are the ‘lost sheep of the house 
of Israel” to be particularly prepared for his coming 
in this culminating period of their national life? We 
proceed to answer. 


Piet EU Ne th OME BABYLON: 


When the people of God were carried away captive to 
Babylon silence and darkness ensued. We catch in cer. 
tain books of the Old Testament some scattered glimpses 
of their condition; but the manner of their life is almost 
entirely concealed and we learn but little of their em- 
ployments, their associations or their aspirations. At 
the conclusion of this period however they emerge 
from the cloud, and we at once perceive that a remark: 
able change has been wrought inthem. A comparatively 
small portion of the nation, comprising the humblest 
and poorest, return to the chosen land; but, though 
poor and humble they manifest a deep religious earnest- 


338 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


ness.. Every idolatrous inclination seems to have dis- 
appeared, and they now devote themselves with unpar- 
alleled fidelity to the preservation of their divine institu- 
tions. A new national life is thereby inaugurated 
fundamentally different from the life which obtained 
before the exile; a life in which all considerations, 
social and political, are dominated by religion. A new 
class of leaders appears, the character of which con- 
tinues to develop until it finds its supreme expression in 
the Maccabean princes. The effect of the influences 
thus set in motion is comprehended in the title of the 
present chapter, Zhe Consolidation of Israel. The 
nation was unified. Their aim, their hope, their zeal, 
became intense, single and undivided; and although 
oftentimes disturbed by foreign complications and rent 
by internal factions, they set themselves as one man to 
the realization of their one great governing ideal, the 
manifestation of the kingdom of God. Thus Israel 
was made ready for the Messiah. 


We should remember at this point that the way of 
the Redeemer may be prepared by agents which are 
not fully in sympathy with his own purpose. The 
Lord may make choice of men and things which are 
not themselves altogether righteous to make his own 
paths straight. These returned Israelites sometimes 
adopted unworthy means in order to effect their na- 
tional independence, their aspirations were in part 
the result of a misinterpretation of the promises of God; 
and yet they were distinctly employed in the execution 

(1) It will not be necessary in this chapter to multiply references. 


The chief authorities, of course, are Josephus and the Books of Mac- 
cabees. 


HELLENISM AND F$UDAISM. 339 


of the Lord’s plans and prepared the way before his 
Messenger in a most signal manner. 


HELLENISM AND JUDAISM. 


We have observed in a preceding chapter that 
through the transformation of the Greek-speaking Jew, 
the middle ground was reached between exclusive Juda- 
ism and the Gentile world. Hellenism furnished the 
connecting link and the Jew of the dispersion became 
the great factor in the promulgation of the Gospel. 

Let us now observe, on the other hand, that had hel- 
lenism been co-extensive with Judaism this most desir- 
able result of hellenism would have certainly failed, 
simply for lack of the first and original factor. It was 
all-important that the portion of Israel which remained 
in the chosen land should be but little effected by the 
encroachments of hellenism. The central nucleus must 
Deyeept pire and injtact. | 

Had the same changes taken place in Judea which 
occurred among the other nations reached by the con, 
quests of Alexander, there would have remained no 
class upon earth to whom the Messiah, when he ap- 
peared, might present himself as to “his own’’—the 
lineal successors of those to whom the original promises 
were made, and therefore the class who had the best 
right to look for their fulfillment in themselves. Though 
the gospel was ultimately to be preached to all the 
nations of the earth the Saviour must first be offered 
to those who were ‘‘ Israelites indeed,” and the Israel- 
ites indeed were preserved through the influences of 
which we are about to treat. 

It was not, therefore, altogether unfortunate that 


340 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


Judaism and hellenism developed considerable mutual 
opposition. So long as it did not run into absolute an. 
tagonism its outcome in the providence of God was 
almost wholly good. In the midst of the apparent dis- 
cord there was a real divine harmony, which harmony 
is found not in the relations of the parties to each other 
but in the governing purpose of Almighty God. The 
broader hellenism and the narrower Judaism, each had 
its own important place to fill, and served in its own 
peculiar way the wonderful scheme of divine grace.® 
We have considered hellenism and deal now with 
Judaism. 

The consolidation of Israel was twofold: First, 
Polttecal. Second, Freligtous. We proceed to the 


first. 
POLTLELCA If CONSORT DATION: 


In the turbulent period that followed upon the divi- 
sion of the empire of Alexander the Great, Palestine 
was the object of strife between the Greek kings of 
Egypt and the Greek kings of Syria. Sometimes it 
was under the dominion of the one, sometimes under 
the dominion of the other; though with short intervals 
it continued to be tributary to the Ptolemies from 320 
B.C. to 203 B..C. The country. was raya cedmanes 
cessively by the forces of the contending armies, yet 
upon the whole, the time is to be regarded as one of 
general peace and prosperity. 

The political government of the people during this 
period was vested in the high-priest, who, as the head of 
the state as well as the head of the church, ruled Judzea 
without any special interference from the Egyptian 

(2) See Schurer, Division I; Vol. I: p. 108. 


ANTIOGHUS E£EPHIPHANES: 341 


sovereigns. But towards the close of the Ptolemaic 
period the Jews became the objects of severe oppres- 
sion, and the holiest sentiments were outraged by the 
treatment which they received. Ptolemy IV., Epi- 
phanes, attempted to enter the temple at Jerusalem, 
and, being prevented, sought revenge by punishing 
the Jews in his own country, though they were 
entirely innocent of any offense. The Judzan Jews, 
incensed at this injustice, resolved to seek a protector 
elsewhere. They turned accordingly to the king of 
Syria, Antiochus the Great, and when he determined 
to attack Egypt, the Jews voluntarily joined him. 
The result was that Judea came into possession of the 
Syrian kings, and the Seleucidz were thenceforth its 
rulers. 


AN TRIOCGH USE PIRHANES: 


But by and by the Syrians became even. more 
oppressive than the Egyptians. An attempt was made 
to overthrow the foundations of Judaism and convert 
itemadnerents by torce ‘to heathenism. Upon. the 
accession of Antiochus IV., Epiphanes, he determined 
to suppress the so-called superstitions of the Jews, and 
introduce Greek customs in their place. A number of 
the Jews declared in favor of these plans; but some 
opposition being aroused, Antiochus resolved to 
chastise his refractory subjects by plundering the 
temple and enriching himself, now sorely in need of 
money,® with the spoils. The hellenizing process was 
inaugurated with a rude violence unlike any to which 
the Jews had ever before been subjected. The Jewish 


(3) The story is well told in Stanley III; Lecture xlviii. 


342 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


worship was completely suspended; all Jewish cer- 
emonies were strictly forbidden, and the people were 
thus roused ‘to resistance.’ In the year’ 17o=DusGe 
while Antiochus was engaged in an expedition against 
Egypt, the patriotic party under the high-priest Jason, 
who had been recently displaced by the Syrian king, 
succeeded in securing Jerusalem, forcing the rival high- 
priest whom Antiochus had installed to take refuge in 
the citadel. This act of apparent rebellion was the 
occasion of the persecution which followed. ‘Toward 
the end of the year Antiochus returned from Egypt 
and marched against Jerusalem. Upon his arrival he 
ordered a general massacre, plundered the temple and 
carried away with him to Antioch its most valuable 
furniture, including the altar of incense, the table of 
shew-bread and the seven-branched candlestick. 

But the worst was yet to come. ‘Two years later 
Antiochus in a fit of madness directed his energies to 
the extermination of the Jewish religion and of those 
Jews who should interfere with his schemes. A large 
portion of the population refused to yield, and were 
treated with the utmost barbarity. Men were killed; 
women and children were sold into slavery. Jerusalem 
was largely depopulated and strangers were brought 
in as colonists. The walls of the outer city were 
thrown down, the fortifications of the old “City of 
David” were strengthened, and its citadel was 
garrisoned by a detachment of the Syrian army. The 
Jewish mode of worship was studiously outraged. 
Sacrifices were offered to the Greek gods in all the 
cities of Judea. Once every month a rigorous search 
was instituted in order to ascertain whether any were 


THE ASMCNEANS. 243 


disobeying the commands of the Syrian king, and if a 
copy of the Scriptures were discovered in the posses- 
sion of anyone, or if any Jewish rite was found to have 
been observed, the offender was immediately put to 
death. The culmination of this enormity was reached 
in December, B. C. 168, when a pagan altar was built 
on the site of the great altar of burnt offering, and a 
heathen sacrifice offered thereon. A huge herd of 
swine was introduced into the sacred precincts and 
there slaughtered. One of the largest was chosen from 
the rest and its blood was poured on the altar before 
the temple, and even sprinkled within the Holy of 
Holies. This was ‘the abomination of desolation” of 
the Book of Daniel, perhaps the most impious act of 
blasphemy ever committed within the sacred courts of 
the Lord’s house. The persecution which followed 
was in keeping with the insults which preceeded. 
Implements of torture similar to those which have since 
been used—the rack, the stake and the wheel, were 
introduced in order to convert the Jews to heathenism. 
Women were hung upon the public wall with the babes 
whom they had circumcised slain upon their breasts. 
An old scribe named Eleasar, stripped of his priestly 
garments, refused tg swallow the swine’s flesh which 
was forced into his mouth, and was scourged to death. 
Other similar indignities followed, of which we have 


not the heart to speak. 
THE ASMONEANS. 


The result of this persecution was a revival of 
patriotic pietism such as Israel had seldom known. A 
reaction followed which was directed not only against 


344 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


the political power of the Syrian oppressor, but also 
against the Greek institutions which he represented. 
The excitement broke into revolution at the little town 
of Modein, the home of an aged priest named Matta- 
thias, the great-grandson of a certain Chasmon (Asa- 
monzos ), from whom the family name was derived. 
Mattathias was the father of five noble sons, each 
inheriting his father’s faith and courage, and thus pre- 
senting one of the most remarkable illustrations of 
family piety and influence in history. The names of 
these sons were John, Simon, Judas, Eleasar and 
Jonathan. When the king’s officer arrived at their 
home with orders to overthrow the Jewish worship 
and offer heathen sacrifices, Mattathias indignantly 
declined to obey. He declared that though all the 
nations which were subject to the king of Syria should 
fall away at his behest from the religion of their 
fathers, he and his sons and brothers would walk in 
the covenant of their God. Acting upon his own con- 
victions and probably without any thought of that to 
which his action would lead, he proceeded himself to 
violent measures. He slew a Jew, whom he found 
offering heathen sacrifice, upon his own altar. He 
also slew the king’s commissioner and threw down 
the altar which had been built. Then he fled with his 
sons into the mountains. The little band were soon 
joined by a number of others, of like convictions, who 
had been fired with enthusiasm by their example, and 
organizing them into a rude band of warriors, Matta- 
thias passed through the land overturning altars, 
slaying apostates, circumcising the uncircumcised 
children and arousing the spirit of resistance among 


Se 


FUDAS MACCABEUS., 345 


his countrymen. Ie was however not long permitted 
to continue the work, but died within the year. His 
sons buried him with great lamentations at Modein 
and resolved upon carrying out the plans which he had 
so nobly inaugurated. 


JUDAS MACCABEUS. 


And now there comes to the front the most dis- 
tinguished person in the later history of the Palestinian 
Jews, Judas the son of Mattathias. His surname, the 
‘““Maccabee,” by which he and his successors were to 
be known, is substantially the same as that of Charles 
of Austrasia, the hero of Poitiers, “Martel,” ‘he 
hammer. In him the political consolidation of Israel 
was substantially accomplished. 

In the providence of God the way was prepared for 
Judas Maccabeus by the internal dissensions of the 
Syrian kingdom. Humanly speaking, it would have 
been impossible for the little band of Jews to have 
secured their independence against the Syrian mon- 
archy as it was in its earlier period. At this time, 
however, it was beset by a number of powerful foes; 
Egypt upon the south, Parthia upon the west, and 
more particularly ambitious and rising Rome upon the 
east. It was also torn by internal dissension. Its 
history during this entire period is little less than the 
story of mutual jealousy and rivalry; the murder of 
some claimant to the throne by a more fortunate rival, 
and his speedy displacement in like manner at the 
hands of some crafty successor. On several occasions 
when the Syrian monarch attempted to lead an army 
into Judzea in order to the subjugation of its rebellious 


346 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


people, he was obliged to withdraw in order to ineet 
some more important foe from another quarter. At 
other times when he dispatched a general to attempt 
the task, his ambassador embraced the opportunity to 
plot against him by converting those whom he had 
been taught to regard as foes into allies. While, 
therefore, the struggle of the Maccabees was fierce, 
constant and heroic in the extreme, it could not have 
been successful except for these favoring circum- 
stances. 

At the first, however, Judas was obliged to fight his 
way inch by inch to the substantial independence 
which he achieved. His zeal was unparalleled. The 
words of his dying father, ‘‘My sons, be zealous for the 
law, and give your lives for the covenant of your 
fathers,” “® were never forgotten. They furnished, 
indeed, the name (Zealots) to the party which suc- 
ceeded the Maccabees. Nor was his zeal untempered 
with judgment. His tactics were many times Napol- 
eonic. He understood the principle of dividing the 
army which opposed him and attacking and destroying 
them piecemeal. 

After a succession of brilliant victories Jerusalem 
was -wrested from the Syrians and the Jewish worship 
was restored upon Mount Zion. Judas then collected 
his fighting men at Mizpah not far from Jerusalem. 
By this time they consisted no longer of a small 
number of enthusiasts, but had grown into an army 
which he organized according to military rules. By 
prayer and fasting he prepared himself for the unequal 


(4) I Maccabees ii: 50. 


FUDAS MACCABEUS. 344 


struggle which he knew to be before him. The two 
armies met in the neighborhood of Emmaus, north- 
west of Jerusalem. While the main body remained in 
camp, Gorgias, the Syrian general, endeavored with a 
strong detachment, which he considered amply 
sufficient, to engage the Jewish army. Judas was 
made aware of his plan, thrust his own army between 
that of Gorgias and the main body of Syrians, sur- 
prised the camp, threw the Syrians into a panic and 
burned their tents behind them. When Gorgias 
returned and saw the results of the Jewish victory he 
did not venture himself to engage the army of Judas, 
but turned and fled into Philistine territory. Inthe 
following year Lysias, the Syrian regent, himself led a 
more powerful army into Judza, but although it greatly 
exceeded in numbers the little force commanded by 
the Maccabee, Judas again succeeded in winning so 
complete a victory that Lysias was obliged to return 
to Antioch to reorganize his forces. Judas now retired 
to Jerusalem and devoted himself to matters of internal 
reform. Everything which had been rendered impure 
in the heathen profanation of the temple was carried 
away and destroyed. The altar of burnt offering was 
entirely renewed. The sacred garments and furniture 
were replaced, and when everything was ready the 
temple was again consecrated in connection with the 
celebration of a great feast. The festivities lasted for 
eight days, and it was then resolved by the people that 
the memory of these events should be revived each 
year with the repetition of the festival observance. 
From this day, December B. C. 165, dates the “Feast 


348 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


of the Dedication’ mentioned in one of the gospels, 
attended by the Lord himself. 

For the eighteen months which followed Judas re- 
mained the undisputed master of Judea. ‘The king of 
Syria paid no attention to his movements because he 
was wholly occupied in other ways. Judas was thus 
allowed to arrange for the strengthening of his position. 
The fortifications of Jerusalem were rebuilt and certain 
important outposts were also fortified and garrisoned 
with Jewish troops. The Jews of the frontier settle- 
ments which were the most exposed to the aggressions 
of the heathen were brought into the more central 
territory in order to their own and its protection. But 
in the campaign which followed, the hitherto invariable 
success of the Maccabean army was arrested. Judas 
suffered a defeat at a point south of Jerusalem, and 
retired to the city, the armies of Syria soon appearing 
before its walls. A truce however was concluded, as 
Lysias was obliged to return home in consequence of 
certain disturbances at his own capital, and it was 
agreed that henceforth the Syrians were to impose no 
heathen customs upon the Jews. On this condition 
Jerusalem capitulated and the subjugation of the Jews 
was temporarily accomplished. Judas felt, however, 


that he had won a substantial victory, inasmuch as | 


the Syrians had granted to him that for which war 
had been declared five years before. The understand- 
ing which was then reached was not interfered with 
by any of the succeeding kings of Syria, and none of 
them ever attempted again to introduce pagan cere- 
monies among the Jews. 


(9) Polini xce22: 


SUCCESSORS OF ¥UDAS. 349 


Judas, however, was not willing that his countrymen 
should remain subjects of the king of Syria. His ad- 
herents in Jerusalem were consequently slain or ex- 
pelled. This involved the Jews in further conflicts, but 
a decisive battle resulted in the utter defeat of the 
Syrians, Nicanor, the commander, being slain. His 
army being thrown into a panic by his death threw 
away their arms and fled. The Jews pursued them, 
surrounded them, and according to the statement of 
the first book of Maccabees cut them down to the last 
man. ‘The victory was complete, and another annual 
festival was instituted to commemorate it, known as 
Nicanor’s day. 

Demetrius, the king, however, roused by the death 
and defeat of Nicanor dispatched a second great army 
to Judea which appeared in the neighborhood of 
Jerusalem in April B. C. 161. The sudden return of 
the representatives of the conquered power, and their 
evident superiority, dismayed the little army of Judzans. 
They deserted from Judas in large numbers, and the 
few who remained faithful ventured upon the conflict 
with the courage of despair. The result was that they 
were overwhelmingly defeated, and Judas himself fell 
in the conflict. 


BUCCE SOK SsOr yi UDAS: 


The power of the national party would seem to have 
been quite destroyed by the defeat and death of Judas, 
but his friends had no thought of abandoning their cause. 
Jonathan the brother of Judas was elected leader, and 
although most of the important strongholds of Judxa 
were now occupied by Syrian garrisons, the little com- 


250 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


pany of patriots continued to plan and to pray and await 
the opportunity of redress. Meanwhile seven years 
passed by. The country was comparatively quiet, and in 
this quiet the Maccabeans were silently reinvigorating 
and increasing their shattered forces. Inthe year B. C. 
153 the opportunity was found. Demetrius the Syrian 
king was confronted with a rival in the person of Alexan- 
der Balas who appeared as a claimant of the throne. 
Finding himself in danger the king sought to conciliate 
his Jewish subjects, and granted concessions to Jonathan. 
He gave him authority to summon an army for the 
king’s support and Jonathan returned to Jerusalem in- 
vested with full power; but instead of acting altogether 
as the king had expected he took possession of Jerusa- 
lem and fortified the city in his own interest. Many 
of the Syrian garrisons had been recalled by Demetrius 
in order to his own protection, and Jonathan without 
fighting a battle was substantially master of the 
country. 

Demetrius, however, had not been sufficiently liberal 
in his concessions, for he was at once out-bidden by his 
rival Balas. Jonathan accepted the proferred gifts and 
offices. The remaining members of the Greek party 
were driven out of the government in Judea never 
again to regain their power, and thus favored only by 
circumstances the nationalist movement now stood 
upon more solid foundations than any which it had 
ever reached, and that without any conflict of arms. 


JEWISH INDEPENDENCE. 


We are thus brought to the point where the inde- 
pendence of Judza is substantially secured, and can 


JEWISH INDEPENDENCE. 251 


follow no further in detail the vicissitudes of the na- 
tional party. 

Jonathan was treacherously put to death by Demet- 
rius Il., his brother Simon succeeding him. Simon 
carried the work of emancipation to complete success, 
compelled the last Syrian garrison in Palestine to capi- 
tulate, and in May, B. C. 142, entered Jerusalem the 
undisputed master of a free country. The final triumph 
was celebrated with great rejoicing, as well it might 
be, for Jerusalem had been under. the yoke of some 
foreign despot for nearly three centuries and a half. 

And now a number of years were passed in undis- 
turbed peace and prosperity. The first book of Mac- 
cabees describes the conditions of the Jews during this 
happy time. 


“ Then did they till their ground in peace, and the earth gave 
her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit. The ancient 
men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, 
and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. Israel 
rejoiced with great joy; for every man sat under his vine and his 
fig-tree, and there was none to fray them. Neither was there 
any left in the land to fight against them.” ©) 

But Simon was not allowed to end his days in peace. 
Like all the brothers of that wonderful family he died 
a violent death. His own son-in-law Ptolemy, who 
was military commander in the plain of Jericho, plotted 
himself for the supreme power, and in February, B. C: 
135, while Simon was visiting him upon a tour of off 
cial inspection, he and his two sons were treacherously 
murdered. Thus does the last member of the original 
family disappear from view. Its history is tragic, in- 
spiring and instructive in the highest degree, and the 


(9) 1 Maccabees xiv: 8. 


THE ASMON/AZEANS 


Chasmon 
Johanan 
Simeon 


Mattathias 


| | | 


John Simon Judas Eleasar 


Judas John Hyrcanus Mattathias 


Jonathan 


Daughter 


(W. OF PTOLEMY) 


Aristobulus I. Antigonus Alexander Jannzus 


Hyrcanus ll, Aristobulus I]. 


| 


Alexandra m. Alexander 


| 
Antigonus 


Mariamne m. HEROD THE GREAT  Aristobulus 


PE Led a 3259 


words of the dying Mattathias now appear not only as 
exhortation but almost as inspired prophecy, for every 
one of this devoted house ‘ gave his life for the cove: 
nant of his fathers.” 

The accompanying chart exhibits the genealogy of 
the house, with the names of the successors of Simon. 
The Asmoneans ruled with varying success until B. C. 
37, when Herod the Great having obtained possession 
of the remaining portions of Palestine laid seige to 
Jerusalem and captured it after a series of operations 
extending over fifteen days. Antigonus, the last of 
the Maccabees, was taken to Antioch where he was 
put to death, and the rule of the Asmonzan dynasty 
was thus brought to an end. 


Seal dad EVES 


The influence of this great national uprising and its 
signal success may be imagined. It gave the Jews a 
deep sense of the inherent stability of their institutions. 
They were grounded in the faith of their divine ordi- 
nation, and in faith in themselves as their divinely ap- 
pointed custodians. The period of oppression was 
followed by a period in which the patriotic fervor of 
the Jewish people found intense expression and a mag- 
nificent triumph. The result was that Israel was bound 
closely together. Their common interests were sub- 
served and their unity was illustrated. Thus the 
nationalist movement became in very deed a “ school- 
master to bring them to Christ.” In its highest aspi- 
rations the movement was not so far removed from the 
fundamental thought and purpose of Christ’s mission 
as may be supposed. Though its direction and ex- 


354 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


pression were in absolute contrast to his own; though 
they looked for a kingdom of this world, as he did not, 
and sought to establish it by carnal weapons, while he 
employed only spiritual ones; nevertheless the funda- 


mental idea—that of a people whose king was God 
alone, was common both to the Maccabee and to the 
disciple of Jesus. It is not surprising therefore, that 
among the twelve apostles one was found who repre- 
sented the extreme expression of the nationalist idea, 
Simon Zelotes. The nationalist was intensely jealous 
for the Lord God of hosts. He felt that no idolater 
should be permitted to profane by his presence the 
sacred soil that belonged to the Lord, that no foreign 
king should exact the tribute which was due to their 
sole monarch, the Almighty Jehovah. He felt that so 
much as to countenance such a theory was an act of 
dire apostasy. With him patriotism and religion were 
united. He drew his sword tothe music of the psalms 
and his battle-cry was the word of some ancient 
prophet. His zeal, indeed, needed to be turned into 
better channels; but his spirit was by no means an un- 
worthy element in the preparation of the Jewish world 
for Christ. As Paul afterwards intimated, he had “a 
zeal for God,” and though it was not “according to 
knowledge,” the fact that it was ‘“‘ for God ”’ constituted 
it a mighty, indispensible factor. Like every other 
element which we have treated it needed modification 
and direction, but it was by no means disowned. On 
the contrary it was divinely ordained to serve the 
great divine purpose, and was divinely employed to its 
accomplishment. 


HEROD THE GREAT. 355 


Even in the overthrow of the Asmonzans the effects 
of their great deliverance were not substantially dissi- 
pated. ‘They were succeeded by the Herodian family, 
whose general character may be distinctly inferred 
from the notices of them which occur in the Gospels. 
It may not be so clear, however, to the student who 
has consulted only his New Testament that even in 
Herod the Great the consolidation of Israel was still 
more definitely secured, and by the very instru- 
mentality of this profligate and cruel king the way of 
the Lord prepared. 


PGi.) Delt Ba Are 


The ancestors of Herod were Idumean pagans, des- 
cendants of Esau. In the campaigns of the later Mac- 
cabees their territory had been annexed to Palestine, 
and under John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon, they had 
been converted to Judaism. Antipater, the father of 
Herod, while his son was yet a youth, had been ap- 
pointed governor of Judea by Julius Cesar, and asso- 
ciated him with himself in the government. The 
young man early displayed very remarkable military 
qualities, and showed himself capable of dealing even 
with the most intractable subjects. After the death 
of his father his own ambitious designs were encour- 
aged by the Romans, more particularly by Antonius, 
by whom he was advanced from one position to another 
until he received from the Senate the title of king, and 
was confirmed in the possession of a larger territory 
than that which had been included in the dominions 
ot Israel since the days of Solomon. He was the first 
also to bear this title under the concessions of the im- 


356 THE CONSOLIDATION OF JSRAEL. 


perial power and with the full recognition of the nations 
round about him. ‘Though the Jews hated him and 
feared him more than any one who had ruled over 
them since the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, yet they 
respected his authority and were proud of his achieve- 
ments. ‘hey now hada king of their own who was 
indeed a king, a capable administrator, a great warrior, 
and devoted to the internal improvement of his king- 
dom. He also conciliated them by marrying into the 
Maccabean line, his favorite wife Mariamne being a 
daughter of Alexander and his cousin Alexandra, and 
his issue would rule by right inherited from the 
Asmonzans. 

The chief work, of Herod the Great, affecting the 
restoration of Jewish power and glory, was the rebuild- 
ing of the temple of Jerusalem, which, however, inas- 
much as it belongs rather to the religious than to the 
political consolidation of Israel we shall consider fur- 
ther on. The other public works of Herod were both 
numerous and magnificent. A number of new cities 
were built under his direction in various parts of the 
country. ‘Ihe ancient Samaria was reconstructed in 
magnificent style, receiving the name of Sebaste, the 
Greck equivalent of the feminine form of the Roman 
name Augustus, who at that time had come to the 
Roman throne and continued the patronage of Herod. 
Fle also founded Cesarea, constructing its harbor by 
the erection of a powerful breakwater which was car: 
ried far out into the sea, upon which were erected 
dwellings for the seamen and in front of which a sort 
of plaza extended which was used as a pleasure ground. 
Several other cities were also undertaken by him, 


RELIGIOUS CONSOLIDATION. 7 


ye 


8) 


while a large number were embellished by the erection 
of public buildings, theatres, citadels and the like. He 
was not content even with this improvement of his 
own territory, but voluntarily erected in other cities 
certain architectural works in order to add to the lus- 
ter of his fame. The Rhodians were furnished with a 
new Pythian temple. Nicopolis in Greece, near to 
which the battle of Actium was fought, was provided 
with certain additions to its public buildings. Antioch 
was embellished with new colonnades erected along 
the sides of its principal street. Chios was favored 
with the rebuilding of its piazz 

Mithridatic war, and Askelon, tes Sidon, Ptolemais 
and Damascus were also graced with his memorials. 


a destroyed during the 


Even distant Athens and Lacedemonia received the 
tokens of his favor. 

While all this reflected glory upon the name of the 
king of Judzea it redounded also to the glory of his 
subjects. They considered themselves parties to it, 
and in several places in the New Testament appear 
the indications of their pride. Thus even through the 
designs of this ambitious king, Israel was the more 
closely welded together, so that when the Messiah ap- 
peared he came not as to a scattered company of indi- 
viduals cherishing a common hope, but to one undi- 


vided people. 
RELIGIOUS CONSOLIDATION. 


Coincident with the reawakening of the national 
hopes under the Maccabees a.great literary revival 
took place in Palestine. This was to have been ex: 
pected, as such is almost always the case at similar 


358 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


junctures. The spirit of the people found expression 
in certain works wherein their past history was 
reviewed in highly colored language, and in the most 
glowing terms. The influence was felt indeed through- 
out all the world wherever the Jewish people were 
found. Two bodies of literature began to be formed, 
the first the product of the Greek-speaking Jews, the 
second the product of those Jews who dwelt in their 
own country. We have already given attention to the 
Greeco-Jewish literature, and shall now consider only 
that which proceeded from Judzea, in which those 
special aspirations were expressed which centered in 
the chosen land. This Palestinian literature contri- 
buted even more largely than the political movements 
to the consolidation of Israel. Whatever might be the 
varying success of the Maccabean arms, the Maccabean 
hope was steadfast. The faithful Israelite never 
doubted the final issue. His faith rested on the divine 
promises. He now confessed it before the world in the 
work of his pen; and thus the sword was sustained— 
even when the emussaries of his oppressor appeared 
before the walls of the holy city. 


THE CHASIDIM. 


We have seen that after the return from the Baby- 
lonian captivity the priesthood formed the center of 
the new Hebrew life, and the high-priest united in 
himself the government both of the church and of the 
nation. Very naturally all those among the people 
who were anxious to keep the commandments of their 
God inviolate, attached themselves to the priesthood 
and to the tribe of Levi. Those who exercised special 


Ee 


LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. 359 


care in these matters, by abstaining from all forbidden 
things of the law, by the strict payment of tithes and 
offerings, by discountenancing intermarriage with the 
heathen, by the proper regard for the Sabbath and by 
the regular observance of festival occasions, had come 
to be known by the name of the Chas¢dim, a word 
almost equivalent to our English word “saints.” In 
the uprising of the nation under the Maccabees this 
party of strict Israelites headed the combined revolt 
against foreign domination and heathen institutions, 
and succeeded in rousing the whole people to do battle 
for the ancient land and for the ancient faith. So while 
they took sword in hand to defend their country they 
also took pen in hand to defend their faith, and the 
result, as we have seen, was the complete expulsion of 
the foreigner, both in rule and worship from Judean 
soil. ‘This fact is to be particularly noted since it is 
said to be the only example of an eastern religion com- 
pletely emancipating itself in any great section from 
the influence of that hellenistic culture which was in- 
troduced upon the conquests of Alexander the Great. 
This emancipation from heathenism in all its forms 
was one of the greatest elements in the formal prepar- 
ation of the world for the Redeemer. 


UTE RAG U Tete © hoe His BE RIO LD): 


Palestinian literature began to appear about the year 
170 B. C., and continued to be produced until some 
years after the death of Christ. Among the works 
which belong to it may be mentioned the First Book 
of Maccabees; the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach; 


(7) Schurer I; I: 199. 


260 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


the books of Judith, of TTophet and of Enoch; the As: 
sumption of Moses; the Book of Jubilees, and certain 
others. The reader of the New Testament will re 
member that one of the canonical books quotes from 
two of the books which we have mentioned.® These 
works furnished the food upon which the heroes of 
that period were made strong to do valiantly in behalf 
of their God and country. They represent the contin- 
uance of the hope of Israel, though in a modified form 
(as we shall presently consider), and they present to 
us the pious sons of Judea dwelling with rapt anticipa- 
tion upon the promises of God, which these books re- 
called and the immense possibilities which they sug- 
gested. 

The chief feature of all these works is the ever- 
present Messianic expectation. It is true that this 
expectation was not exactly that of the inspired pro- 
phets of Israel.© The ancient promises, had been 
misinterpreted through the selfish ambitions of the later 
Jews; the prophecies of the canonical Scriptures had 
been modified by the nationalist expectations. The 
Messianic future which is portrayed is not one in which 
all the nations of the earth are to be blessed, but one 
in which Judea and the Jewish people are to be the 
sole recipients of special divine favor. The Messianic 
hope has thus lost the broad and generous character 
which distinguishes it in the ancient prophecies and 
has been transformed into a mere Jewish hope. 
Nevertheless, the central figure at all times is the com- 
ing Messiah and the kingdom which he is to found 


(8) The Epistle of Jude, 9, 14, 15. ; 
(8) See Prophecy and History, Edersheim, pp. 314, 318. 


LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. 361 


upon earth, and thereby the way of that Messiah is 
prepared. 

The most extravagant notions are encouraged in all 
of these books. Palestine is to be blessed beyond all 
other nations. Its crops are to be bountiful, its cities 
resplendent, its people prosperous and happy. Wheat 
should grow in Palestine to the height of palm trees. 
The walls of Jerusalem should be garnished with gold 
and jewels, and every Israelite should have the desire 
of his heart without labor and without molestation. 
The new Jerusalem would be as wide as all Palestine, 
the boundaries of Palestine being proportionately ex- 
tended, and the holy city should be the mistress of all 
the world. Even the wild beasts should relinquish 
their cruel natures and carniverous animals become 
herbivorous. ‘The reader will observe that much of 
this is a mere literal translation of the spiritual hopes 
set forth by the ancient prophets but carried to the 
most undue extremes. A single quotation from Tobit’s 
prayer of rejoicing will be sufficient to illustrate the 
whole.? 


“ Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: and praise the ever- 
lasting king, that his tabernacle may be builded in thee again 
with joy, and let him make joytul there in thee those that are 
captives, and love in thee forever those that are miserable. 

Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord 
God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; 
all generations shall praise thee with great joy. Cursed are all 
they which hate thee, and blessed shall all be which love thee 
forever. Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for 
they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the 


just. Oh blessed are they which love thee, for they shall rejoice 


in thy peace. Blessed are they which have been sorrowful for 


(10) Tobit xiii: 16-18. 


362 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


all thy scourges; for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have 
seen all thy glory, and shall be glad for thee. Let my soul bless 
God the great King. For Jerusalem shall be built up with sap- 
phires, and emeralds and precious stones: thy wall, and towers, 
and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem 
shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir. 
And all her streets shall say Alleluia! and they shall praise him, 
saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it forever.” 


SCRIBES; “RABBIS: 


In connection with the publication of this literature 
the entire religious condition of Israel experienced a 
new development. ‘This is more particularly marked 
in those elements that gather about the temple and 
the law, beginning with the Scribes.“ The revival 
of interest in the law naturally involved the necessity 
of its deeper study and of a larger professional ac- 
quaintance with its meaning. We have seen in a pre- 
vious chapter that the development of scribism dates 
back, as did all the peculiar movements which are as- 
sociated with it, to the Babylonian captivity. But in 
this as in every other respect a new and peculiar im- 
pulse was received in consequence of the Maccabean 
successes. The scribes who appeared in the times of 
Ezra were now multiplied. Their studies became 
the more intense and their influence over the people 
increased in consequence. From this time onwards 
they were the real teachers of the people and bore com- 
plete sway over their spiritual life. They formed a 
distinct class, compact and in the main harmonious. 
They gave themselves to the study of the Scripture 
with greater painstaking than any body of scholars 


(11) See Schurer Ls cicigr 3s 


SCRIBES: RABBIS. 363 


which Israel ever produced. In fact Israel had never 
produced a class who could be strictly called ‘“‘ scholars ” 
until the times of the Maccabees. ‘The incursion of 
Grecian philosophy also played a very considerable 
part in its development, for the increase of hellenistic 
thought obliged the Jewish scholars to defend their 
own peculiar theory from Gentile attack. 

The learning and individual eminence of the mem- 
bers of this class gave to them a certain name, Rab,” 
Chaldzean in its origin, which appears in composition 
in certain names found in the Old Testament, as, for 
example, Rab-Mag (“ Head of the Magi,”’) an officer 
of Nebuchadnezzar mentioned in the book of Jere- 
miah.“®) This word was at first employed as an 
address and came later to be used as a title, the word 
being adopted into the Hebrew language and thence 
into the Greek, appearing in English as our word Radbdz. 
These Rabbis of the New Testament were the spiritual 
leaders of the people. They soon came to require 
from their pupils the most absolute reverence, inas- 
much as they represented the law of their heavenly 
King. ‘This was upon the ground that the greater in- 
cluded the less. The teacher should be respectea 
rather than the father, for both father and son owed 
him reverence. His father brought him into the life 
of this world; his teacher, by the inculcation of divine 
wisdom, brought him into life of the world tocome. If 
his father and his teacher should both be led into cap- 
tivity it would become the duty of the pupil to seek 
the release of his teacher first and his father afterwards. 
Thus as it appears from certain passages in the New 


(12) Stanley III: 497. (13) Jeremiah xxxix: 3. 


364 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL, 


Testament, the Rabbis everywhere claimed the first 
place and the chief honor. They ‘loved the upper- 
most rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the 
synagogues.” 

The labors of these scribes were gratuitous. Ordi- 
narily they supported themselves by some trade and 
gave themselves to the teaching of the law in the inter- 
vals of their labor. This fact served the still more to 
increase their reputation and their influence, though it 
must not be supposed that they did not willingly 
receive that which their pupils voluntarily offered, 
oftentimes amounting to considerable sums. ‘Though 
serving gratuitously they came ere long to serve with 
the expectation of a reward, and covetousness grew to 
be one of their characteristics 


HILLEL, 


The leaders of the scribes usually appear in couples, 
and so in the age immediately preceding Christ we 
come upon the names of Hillel and Shammai.“® Hillel 
was the most distinguished teacher of Israel since the 
days of Ezra. He was born at Babylon B. C. 75, and 
came to Jerusalem when he was about 40 years of age. 
Tie was soon chosen president of the Sanhedrin and 
held the office for 40 years. His scholars were num- 
bered by the thousands and his influence upon the peo- 
ple of his day was correspondingly great. In character 
he was mild and gentle, generous and self-sacrificing, 
and in all his precepts inculcated the purest and strictest 
morality. ‘Though oftentimes occupied, as were the 
Rabbis of his age, with trifling disputes concerning the 


(14) See Edersheim’s Messiah, Vol. I; Book II. ch. ii. 


_——_ 


a 


PHARISEES: SADDUCEES. 305 


more minute matters of the law, he nevertheless served 
‘to direct the attention of the people to those things 
which concerned their spiritual life, and thereby pre- 
pared them to receive the loftier teaching of the Mes- 
siah. One of his most distinguished pupils was Gam- 
aliel, his own grandson, whose pupil in turn was the 
apostle Paul, and thus we are able to trace directly the 
succession in which in the marvelous intervention of 
Providence the knowledge of the law and of the hope 
of Israel was communicated to the Gentile world. 


PHAR oo tos oA DDUCEES, 


In connection with the development of scribism the 
development of Pharisaism is to be considered. The 
Scribes and Pharisees belong to the same great party. 
Their interests were identical. By many persons of 
our own age the Pharisees are regarded only as a 
covetous, hypocritical and immoral set of men who 
gave themselves to the mere study of the law of God 
with no idea of obeying its spiritual requirements. 
Such indeed to a great extent was their character in 
the time of Christ, and yet to suppose that such was 
their character during the entire period of their exist- 
ence is to do them a gross injustice. The period in 
which Christ appeared was their degenerate age, and 
we may safely say that there has scarcely appeared 
upon earth a set of men with nobler resolves and purer 
intentions than those of the Pharisees in their early gen- 
ations. They were the lineal successors of the Chasi- 
dim or pious ones, whose particular development dates 
back to the year B. C. 170. 

Whesword Pharisee: means **.a separated. one.”’. At 


366 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


first it had no party signification; but it soon became 
the standing appellation of those who had separated 
themselves to the service of God as the conservators of 
their ancestral religion. After a time when the priestly 
power passed into the hands of the Sadducees, the 
Pharisees appeared as their most bitter opponents and 
succeeded in holding the mass of the people firm in the 
spiritual faith of their fathers against the materialistic 
tendencies of those who believed in no spirit, no resur- 
rection, no immortal soul and no hereafter. ‘Thus 
while they interpreted_the law and the Messianic pro- 
phecies in the most literal manner they prepared the 
way for their fulfillment. They gathered a body of 
adherents devoted to the study of the Scriptures, to 
the keeping of the commandments and to the govern- 
ing ideal of the Jewish faith, and from this body almost 
all the disciples of the Lord were recruited. Even 
those who rejected him were not always arrayed against 
him, but more than once defended him and his dis- 
ciples from their more bitter enemies.“ 

The student should be careful not to be led astray at 
this point. While it is plain, from the account of the 
Evangelists that Jesus denounced the Pharisees for 
their many errors, and that the Pharisees plotted his 
destruction; yet it must not be inferred that they offered 
the most violent or effective opposition. The Sad- 
duceean party was more emphatically the persecuting 
party; as distinctly appears in the Acts of the Apostles. 
The aristocracy was Sadduceean. ‘The high priests 
were Sadducees, and so were the majority of the lower 
order. The Sadducees were the politicians and office- 


(15) See John vii: 50; Acts v: 34; xxl: 9. 


_ ee 


i 


PHARISEES: SADDUCEES. 367 


seekers of the nation, and though in the minority, they 
held the combined power of wealth and station. They 
espoused the cause of hellenism, promoted Greek cul- 
ture and even encouraged Antiochus Epiphanes in his 
violent attemps to destroy the traditional customs of 
their country. In the patriotic uprising under the ear- 
lier Maccabees they were stripped of their honors and 
relegated to obscurity, but by and by they worked 
themselves again to the front and became under John 
Hyrcanus the ruling caste 

After this they held the supreme power, with a single 
slight intermission until the time of Christ; even mak- 
ing common cause with Herod the Great and being 
known as the Herodians.“® It was only the fear of 
the people which prevented them from denationalizing 
the Jewish nation and reducing its divine religion toa 
mere code of morals, without spirituality and without 
hope. 

The penal theories of the Sadducees were much more 
severe than those of the Pharisees, as is usually the 
case with aristocratic classes Consequently they op- 
posed the gospel with a cold austerity, which knew 
neither mercy for the accused nor sympathy for his 
doctrines. A Sadduceean high-priest sentenced the 
Redeemer, a Sadduceean king mocked and insulted 
him, a Sadduceean council delivered him to the Roman 
governor and demanded his crucifixion. Had the 
rulers of the Jews been Pharisees exclusively, history 
might have been very differently written. As it was 
Pharisaism—with all its hypocrisy, had much to do 
in preparing the way of the Redeemer. Sadducee- 


(16) Matt. xxii: 16, ef ad. 


308 THE CCNSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


ism prepared for him only a crown of thorns and 
a cross! 
THE SANHEDRIN. 

According to the most ancient Jewish tradition the 
high court of the Jews, known as the Sanhedrin was 
instituted by Moses at the command of God when he 
appointed the seventy elders, with whom he sat as their 
president. The Jews considered that this court was 
continued during all of the Israelitish history though 
it cannot be traced in the Scripture. ‘The name San, 
hedrin, which is a Greek word, points to the fact that 
this ‘synod ” originated during the Macedonian supre- 
macy in Palestine. Josephus does not mention it be- 
fore the conquest of Judza by Pompey. Under John 
Hyrcanus however there was just such a judicial body, 
known at the time as the “ House of Judgment.” This 
house was dissolved after a time in consequence of the 
unworthy high-priests who arose during the Macca- 
bean struggle, but it was reconstructed after the over- 
throw of the Syrians when the independence of the 
people had been secured. ‘The power of this body and 
the influence which it exerted in the unification of the 
people is apparent to the reader of the New Tes- 
tament., It was the people. Their wisest and best 
representatives—according to the standard of the age, 
were its members. It interpreted the law, tried offen- - 
ders, directed the policy and controlled the destiny of 
the nation. The Jewish state was herein focalized. It 
was the embodiment of the faith, the sentiment and 
the aims of the nation—the nation itself in epitome. 
It was thus the supreme illustration of the actual con- 
solidation of Israel. 


THE TEMPLE. 369 


This religious consolidation which we have now 
surveyed found its supreme outward expression in the 
magnificent house of worship erected by Herod the 
Great. After spending two years in preparation he 
proceeded to pull down the old edifice which dated back 
to Zerubbabel, and began the erection of the new one. 
This was just forty-six years before the first passover 
of Christ’s personal ministry, at which time the Jews 
told him “forty and six years was this temple in build- 
ing.’ The original, however, implies that it was not 
yet completed, as indeed it was not, for it was never 
really finished. 

Owing to the reverence which the Jews felt for the 
ancient structure so happily associated with their 
return from Babylon, and also to the superstitious 
feelings of Herod himself, this temple was supposed 
to be only the repairing of the old one. The wor- 
‘ship was never interrupted though the building was 
absolutely transformed.“” The work was invested 
with a religious character from the first. Many of 
the workmen were priests, others were disguised in 
priestly garments, and the sanctity of the undertak- 
ing took possession of the entire national mind. The 
more important parts of the structure connected 
with the. inner sanctuary were finished in eighteen 
months, when it was dedicated by Herod with great 
pomp. Three hundred oxen were sacrificed by the 
king himself and many more were offered by others. 
The building as it stood in the days of Christ was a 
magnificent structure, so resplendent with ornamenta- 
tion of every kind that it was said by the Jews “He 


(17) See Prideaux, Connections II: p. 394. 


370 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ISRAEL. 


who has not seen the building of Herod has never seen ~ 
a beautiful thing.” 

This reconstructed house of worship was intended 
by divine providence to be the scene of the most im- 
portant utterances of the Saviour. He used it as the 
figure of his own body and by his significant remark 
concerning its destruction brought upon him the wrath 
and envy of the Jews. Here he was accustomed to 
teach the people upon his visits to Jerusalem, and here 
he solemnly offered himself to them on his last appear- 
ance at the passover as their Messiah King. He wept 
over its coming destruction and took leave of it in the 
saddest words that ever fell from the lips of man, ‘ Be- 
hold your house is left unto you desolate.” 

The Apostles after him continued to teach within its 
sacred enclosure. Here they performed that great 
miracle?® which drew the attention of all Israel to 
themselves and to the risen Redeemer of whom they 
were the representatives. Here they too were rejected 
and then, at last, the purpose of God being fully 
served, the stately building was destroyed and the 
doom of Israel accomplished. 


JOHN THES BAPTIST: 


Thus the way of the Lord was prepared. And now 
in the days of that same Herod the King whose remark- 
able building work we have considered, while the scep- 
ter had not as yet departed from Judah nor a law-giver 
from between his feet, while the hopes of the people 
were raised to the highest possible pitch and while they 
were in daily expectancy of one who should appear to 


(18) Acts iil. 


YOHN THE BAPTIST. 371 


lead them successfully against their foreign foes and 
rebuild their city with the utmost magnificence, there 
came one in the wilderness of Judzea clad in the rough 
garb of an ancient prophet and proclaiming in a tone 
of utmost authority ‘‘ Prepare ye the way of the Lord; 
make his paths straight.” Under the singular provi- 
dence of God events, sometimes untoward, and agents, 
sometimes unworthy, had so shaped themselves as that 
all things were ready, and now comes one whom all 
men recognize as a prophet, declaring that the king- 
dom of heaven is at hand: that the Messiah is about to 
appear. At first he received the most enthusiastic 
welcome. The nation flocked to him as one man; 
great numbers received his baptism and stood thence- 
forth waiting for the consolation of Israel, and thus 
a people was prepared for the Lord. The foregoing 
events were not without great and legitimate conse- 
quences. The hearts of the fathers were turned to the 
children and those of the children to the fathers, and 
multitudes realized the hope of Israel. But though 
the Jewish rulers rejected John as they afterwards re- 
jected Christ; though they took them both and by 
wicked hands slew them—the first by the order of the 
king of the Jews, the second by the order of the Ro- 
man governor, yet, we can plainly see that it was all 
done “‘ by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
of God” that the hope of Israel might become the 
hope of all nations. 


NR, 


THe KinGpom oF HEAVEN AT Hanp. 


“The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent 


ye, and believe the Gospel.” —Mark i: 15. 
CHAPTER XIII: THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 
GHAPTER XLV: CHE Wortp LYING 1N WICKEDNESS. 
GQ arTeRY XV. LHEVEULLNESS OF TIME. 

CHAPTER XVI: JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION, 


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CHAPTER Nil. 


GEE DESPAIR OF HEA THENISM: 


One of the very remarkable peculiarities of the 
sacred writers is their ability to characterize in a few 
words the condition of their age. No other authors 
are more concise, and none are so exact. We find in 
the New Testament many illustrations of this peculi- 
arity —the condition of the world at the time of the 
appearance of the Redeemer being vividly set before 
us in the terse but graphic descriptions of the apostles. 
An example occurs in the Epistle of Paul to the Ephe- 
sians, wherein, writing to the citizens of the most im- 
portant place in Asia Minor, the Apostle, in a single 


sentence, depicts their religious condition: “At that ~~ 


time ye were without Christ; * * * having no hope and 
without God in the world.’ 


pO UIC ES. 


We shall endeavor to exhibit in the present chapter 
the growth of this hopeless godlessness, of which the 
Apostle speaks, and to connect it with the great intel- 
lectual revolution under Socrates, and with the unifi- 
cation of the world under the Roman empire. It had 
its roots in each. It was the outgrowth of the liberal 
policy of Rome; it began to be especially manifested 
after the subjugation of Greece, and it was the result 
of the reciprocal influence of the two peoples. 


\ 


CBE phe i112. 


376 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


The civilizations of Greece and Rome, although 
diverse from each other in many particulars, were 
nevertheless derived from a common origin and were, 
therefore, easily amalgamated. But the effect of the 
amalgamation was similar to that which often appears 
in the fusion of races—the resultant was a degener- 
ate reflection of both originals, in which much was 
lost. The Roman maintained his courage and de- 
termination, but lost his primitive simplicity. ‘The 
Greek maintained his taste and much of his intellect- 
ual power, but lost his independence of character. 
The Roman became luxurious and corrupt; the Greek 
became servile and abject. But while Greece suffered 
the humiliation of defeat, she undertook to rule her 
conqueror in the capacity of an intelligent slave by 
ministering to his passions; but while thus demeaning 
herself she was unable to rise from her condition of 
bondage. Greece became the immediate source of— 
Roman frivolity. She furnished cooks, buffoons and 
parasites of every class to her royal master, and her 
very philosophers taught him to dignify pleasure as a 
veritable virtue, and gratify his palate as a pursuit 
worthy the attention of a great and noble soul.” 

The results finally appeared in the disintegration of 
morals, and the dissolution of faith. 

Let us trace the progress of the decline. 


a 


ROMAN LIBERALITY. 


We have observed that when the Romans began 
their career of conquest they did not seek to impose 
their forms of faith on the conquered nations, nor to 


(2) History of the Romans Under the Empire ; Merivale, ch. xxii. 


ROMAN LIBERAL/ISM. B47 


interfere with their religious beliefs and practices. 
This spirit of toleration was the outgrowth of their 
polytheism. A nation which already worships a mul- 
titude of gods is not disposed to resist the addition of 
a few more to their number. In this respect polythe- 
ism has always been distinguished from monotheism. 
The monotheist of necessity regards all gods except 
his own as false, and considers it his duty to repudiate 
them. If his faith be fervent, he can scarcely suffer 
the presence of those who worship them. Jewish ex- 
clusiveness was thus derived from the fundamental 
principle of the Jewish religion, which, while it did 
not require bigotry on the part of its adherents, cer- 
tainly did require that they hold themselves aloof from 
all those who transgressed their first commandment, 
“Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” For sim- 
ilar reasons the Persians destroyed the idols of Baby- 
lonia together with their worshippers, while they fa- 
vored the Jews who rejected the worship of images. 
The same spirit was displayed from the first by the 
Saracen conquerors and is exhibited in the Moham- 
medan of the present day. The polytheist, upon the other 
hand, readily acknowledged gods everywhere, even | 
those that were not his own. No god could be strange 
to him. The divinities of another people were entitled 
to as much veneration as those which he himself had 
been taught to worship. Indeed, he was inclined to 
behold in the gods of the stranger the same gods as 
his own, though disguised by unfamiliar names and 
honored in unfamiliar ceremonies. So it readily came 
about, when the Roman was brought into intimate 
connection with the Greek, that he looked upon the 


378 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


gods of Olympus as identical with his own. Indeed, 
they are thus identified in the minds of most modern 
readers. So to the conquering? Roman, Zeus was the 
same as Jupiter, Here as Juno, and so on throughout 

the catalogue. As the Roman extended his career | 
of conquest to the north, east and the south, he no- 
where found the deities alien to his mind. He recog- 
nized in them his native gods, and that with scarcely 
an effort of the mind. He became a “worshiper of 
all divinities.”” It was not only his policy, but his very ~ 
nature, to tolerate all religions. He did even more 
than this. Upon the conquest of any province or state 
its gods were invited in solemn formula to take up 
their abode in Rome, and the conqueror promised, if 
this were done, to build them temples, to offer them 
sacrifices and to give costly games in their honor.” 

The explanation of this custom is found in that 
common theory of polytheism, that every separate 
race and place had their own peculiar divinities, who 
were accustomed to aid them in battle and provide for 
them in peace. It therefore became the part of polit- 
ical sagacity to invite these gods to the Roman capi- 
tal that their assistance might be invoked in the prose- 
cution of Roman conquests. Meanwhile, to prevent 
the adoption of a similar policy on the part of their 
enemies, the Romans were accustomed, more particu- 
larly in early times, to keep the names of their own 
gods secret. 

The Roman divinities were in this way multiplied 
with the same rapidity as the Roman conquests. While 
at first the number of gods whom the Romans adored 

(3) Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism , Ulhorn, p. 37. 


ROMAN LISBERALITY. 379 


was comparatively small, after a time it was indef- 
initely increased. ‘The rites of worship also which were 
introduced in connection with these gods, became 
exceedingly complex, and the original Roman religion, 
both in the objects of its homage and their attendant 
ceremonies, experienced a vast expansion which was 
certain to produce in time an effect entirely the reverse 
of that which was contemplated. 

The most serious effects, however, followed the 
amalgamation of Greek and Roman. Rome had been 
early brought into intercourse with the Greek civiliza- 
tion and religion in the Greek colonies of Southern 
Italy. Before the foundation of the Republic the 
Sibylline books had been introduced into Rome from 
Cume and the worship of Apollo formally adopted.” 
Foreign influences were therefore felt in Rome before 
the subjugation of Greece, and certain of her gods had 
already received honors second only to those which 
they paid to the Romans’ own. But the fusion went 
on ata much more rapid rate after the conquest of 
Greece. ‘The Romans received only the shell of the 
old Greek religion, and abandoned the simplicity of 
their primitive institutions to receive nothing in re- 
turn. They caught the spirit of the Greek in its most 
skeptical age, when its religion was a matter of exter- 
nals only, saturated with an intense secular and worldly 
spirit. The gods multiplied; their increase fostered an 
excessive growth of superstition; superstition produced 
outspoken skepticism, and skepticism in turn passed 
into the atheistic despair of which the apostle speaks 
in his epistle to the Ephesians. We note now the par- 
ticular steps. 

G) History of Rome, Mommsen, I, 239. 


380 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


GROWTH OF SUPERSTITION. 
The apostle Paul began his address to the Athen- 


ians by remarking, ‘“Ye men of Athens, I perceive )/ | 
that in all things ye are too superstitious.”” He unques- - 


tionably referred to the multiplicity of the altars and 
statues of their gods. <A survey of the religious life of 
the entire Roman Empire must produce the same 


impression. The gods and goddesses had become an ; 


innumerable host; the temples and holy places were 
fairly countless; the world was full of divinities. Petron- 
ius makes a woman from the country district adjoining 
Rome declare that it was easier to find a god in her 
neighborhood than a man. Where there were not 
temples or altars there were at least sacred trees, sacred 
stones, sacred rocks, which it was supposed the deities 
frequented, which were therefore decorated with gar- 
lands, and which no one passed without exhibiting 
some sign of veneration. The entire life was satur- 
ated with religion, and the whole time given to its exer- 
cises, even when the mind was occupied with other 


subjects. At every important public transaction the , 


gods were consulted; every assembly of the people was 
opened with sacrifice or prayer. Even private life had 
its continual religious exercises, and each event was 
celebrated with appropriate religious services. There 
were appropriate gods or goddesses who watched over 


every stage of life; who presided at the birth of the ~ 
child; were invoked on the ninth day when its name ~ 


was given; cared for its food and drink; protected it 
when it took its first step; taught it to creep, to stand, 
to walk, to lisp, to talk; and so on in each successive 
period of its life. There were particular gods for every 


/ 


ee 


GROWTH OF SUPERSTITION. 381 


portion of its dwelling—the door, the threshold of the 
door, and even the hinges of the door. There was a 
special god for each different class—even the most 
menial and the most immoral; and a special divinity 
for those who were afflicted in a peculiar manner, such 
as the childless, the maimed or the blind. There was 
the god of the stable, and the goddess of the horses; 
there were gods for merchants, artists, poets and tillers 
of the soil. ‘The gods must be invoked before the har- 
vest could be reaped; and not even a tree could be 
felled in the forest without supplicating the unknown 
god who might inhabit it. Gods were also invoked in 
the prosecution of criminal practices, and their worship 
was used as a pretext for indulgence in the most out- 
rageous vices. Although the government was aware 
of the evils which were thus propagated among the 
people, it scarcely ventured to prohibit the idolatrous 
practices by which they were promoted. Even the 
orgies of the Bacchanalia might be indulged by those 
who stated that it was a matter of conscience with 
them, and who, upon this ground, could obtain the per- 
mission of the pretor for their observance. 

The same spirit of toleration permitted the introduc- 
tion into Rome of all the immoral ceremonies which 
were connected with the religion of foreigners. At 
first the state did not permit the observance of any 
foreign rites without a special decree; but the efforts 
of the government to suppress them were not long 
effectual. The forbidden worships continued to find 
more and more adherents, until, in the times of the 
Empire they had not only ceased to be forbidden, but, 
as the people began to lose faith in their own gods, 


382 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


they eagerly sought relief in the worship of the foreign 
divinities. Roman emperors themselves built sanctu- 
aries for Isis and Serapis side by side with the temples of 
Jupiter and Vesta. Roman ladies of the best families 
took part in the processions of Isis, and watched out 
the long night in her temple, to obtain expiation for 
their frivolous lives. The result was a religious chaos 
unparalleled in history. The gods had multiplied to 
such an extent that they lost caste and character; 
and in the extension of the forms of religion, religion 
itself was dissolved. ‘The day of satisfaction and of 
certitude was rapidly passing. Men sought for new 
gods in the vain hope of finding that which they had 
been unable to obtain in the faith of the old ones. 
Those who came with some claim to be “ setters forth 
of strange gods” were sure of an audience and often 
spoke, as Paul at Athens, by invitation. The greater 
the distance from which the god was brought, the more 
ancient and mysterious his worship, the better; the 
higher were their hopes excited. 

All this could have but a single ending; but, as yet, 
there were no outward signs of the final desolation. 
On the contrary there was every visible indication of 
power and permanence in the external splendor of the 
Roman idolatry. The.temples were furnished with 
great magnificence and were visited by thousands. 
The religious feasts and sacrifices were celebrated with 
the greatest pomp. There were many suppliants before 
the altar, and many inquiries at the oracles. Heathen- 


ism was not yet ready to give up the ghost, but was. 


assured of a tenacious life for several centuries yet to 


(5) Acts, xvil: Ig. 


GROWTH OF SUPERSTITION. 383 


come. Even in the demoralization which the more 
increased the more the gods were multiplied, there was 
an adherence to the forms of religion. They were sup- 
ported by the usages of centuries, and interwoven with 
all the traditions of the family and of the nation; so 
that even though faith in them may have been sadly 
shattered, the people could not readily cut loose from 
established customs. At the same time, however, 
while the evidences of decline were not externally dis- 
played, the ancient enthusiasm had manifestly disap- 
peared. There were still devout souls, according to 
the pagan standards, who with some show of fervor 
frequented the temples to offer their sacrifices and 
repeat their prayers, but the days had gone forever by 
in which great statesmen like Pericles led the religious 
processions to the Parthenon, or great generals of the 
Roman republic brought their thank-offerings to Jupi- 
ter of the Capitol. Religion was sustained by custom; 
not by faith. It was observed in calm deliberation, 
and business-like calculation. It was the cold disincli- 
nation to overturn the customs which had obtained 
from the days of the fathers, lest in the overturning of 
the national faith, the nation itself should be overturned. 

Take as a single illustration of the condition of the 
age the fact that in the reign of Augustus there could 
no longer be found, among free Roman families, any 
virgins who were willing to become Vestals, and it 
became necessary not only to resort to freed persons, but 
to increase the privileges of the class in order to recruit 
its numbers. ‘This is the more significant when we 
remember the nature and meaning of the Vestal cere- 
monies. In them the Roman community was regarded 


304 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


asa great family, and Vesta was the embodiment of 
all the Penates of the various households. Six chaste ° 
virgins were chosen from the best families to maintain 
upon the common hearth a fire which should never be 
permitted to go out, as an example and warning to 
every family in the nation. This worship, thus semi- 
domestic and semi-public, was the most sacred in the 
Roman religion and was the last to succumb before 
the advance of Christianity. We may therefore per- 
ceive how ill was the omen when the best families of 
Rome had no more daughters to give to this holiest of 
all callings. It meant two things, each of terrible, 
import—that fazth was undermined and that purty 
had disappeared; nay, more; that the very daughters. 
of Rome were willing to surrender both together. 

Such was the condition which we now survey. Skep- 
ticism had resulted as the natural revolt against the 
multiplication of divinities and the superstition which 
was thus engencered. ‘The spirit of the age was 
voiced in the words of Seneca in his tract A gaznst 
Superstition: ‘“ All that ignoble crowd of gods which 
the superstition of the ages has collected we will adore | 
in such a way as to remember that its worship belongs _ 
rather to usage than reality. The wise man will unite 
in all these observances as commanded by the laws, 
not as pleasing to the gods.” 


SREP DICISM. 


The early Romans endeavored to occupy the middle 
eround between superstition and impiety, and to guard 
as carefully against one as against the other. In the 


(“) See History of Rome, Mommsen, I, 227. 


SKEPTICISM. 385 


early days, worship was purely external. Ceremonie 
Fomane was the expressive name of the Roman relig- 
ion. It was devoid of imagination; it made no 
appeal to the feeling; and the true Roman, in conse- 
quence, had a profound dread of all excess in religious 
matters. In the observance of the prescribed cere- 
monies he was excessively punctilious, even when he 
was entirely unconcerned as to the attitude of his heart. 
The ‘‘pious’”? man was the one who knew the ritual the 
best and the most carefully observed it; who was anx- 
ious to worship each of his gods in proper order and 
to be in debt to none of them. 

It is not strange, therefore, that when the divinities’ 
which were imported from other nations became so 
numerous that no one could possibly keep track of 
them, and when the ceremonies which were connected 
with their worship appealed so largely to the fancy 
and ministered so largely to the feelings, that ancient 
custom was seriously transgressed, the representative 
Roman recalled the days of his fathers, bestirred him- 
self with patriotic zeal in behalf of primitive institu- 
tions, and rebelled against the colossal superstition. 

At first a compromise was attempted. The effort 
was made by certain philosophers for a time to com- 
bine in one general system the apparently discordant 
creeds of heathenism, and to create a sort of Pagan uni- 
versalism, in which the elements of all religions might 
be blended.® But the effort proved futile. It was only 
one of the signs of the times indicating the uncertainty 
and the unrest of that distracted period. Old beliefs 


(‘) Mommsen, I, 233. 
(8) Beginnings of Christianity; Fisher, p. 72. 


386 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


were dissolved, and in the presence of so many which 
had been tried and found wanting no belief could be 
accepted. ‘The hope that there might be found among | 
them some single religion acceptable to all mankind 
was regarded as the dream of the wildest visionary. If 
any one indulged in it he was supposed to be an ignor- 
amus, who knew nothing of the many religious systems 
which had come into mutual conflict. The careful 
thinkers of the age regarded the expectation as utterly 
chimerical; and it certainly was so, if the universal 
religion was to be found among any of those which 
heathenism had produced, or if it were to be created 
out of the materials of a dying polytheism. The only 
practical result which the multiplicity of gods and of 
religious notions had produced was a deep and incur- 
able skepticism which the wisest men of the age were 
glad to confess, rather than to be considered as adher- 
ing in any degree to the mutually contradictory forms 
of the current faith. Polybius, the Greek historian, 
who passed many years in Rome and who died 122 
B. C., regarded religion simply as the pillar of the 
state, a necessary means to political ends, inasmuch as 
it held the multitude in check by its terrifying fictions, 
So early had skepticism laid hold of the thinking mind. 
Cicero says: 


“I thought I should be doing an immense benefit both to my- 
self and to my countrymenif I could entirely eradicate all supersti- 
tious errors. Nor is there any fear that true religion can be endan- 
gered by the demolition of this superstition; for as this religion 
which is united with the knowledge of nature is to be propagated, 
so, also, are all the roots of superstition to be destroyed; for 
that presses upon and pursues and persecutes you wherever you 


(9) Introduction to Neander’s Church flistory. 


SKEPTICISM. 387 


turn yourself, whether you consult a diviner or have heard an 
omen or have immolated a victim, or beheld a flight of birds; 
whether you have seen a Chaldzan or a soothsayer; if it lightens 
or thunders, or if anything is struck by lightning; if any kind of 
a prodigy occurs; some of which things must be frequently com- 
ing to pass, so that you can never rise with a tranquil mind.” 
Varro, the contemporary and intimate friend of Cicero, 
did not scruple to comment upon the unworthy and 
absurd character of the myths and lc gends of the popu- 
lar faith. Such men looked upon them as a political 
necessity, and defended them only as a pious fraud, 
in which it was necessary to indulge the multitude in 
order to the stability of the existing order of things. 
The revolt against superstition, however, and the 
skepticism and neglect of religion which ensued, be- 
came so general that the effort was made, beginning 
with the emperor Augustus, to restore the observance 
of religion by means of the civil power. From the 
time that the authority of Augustus was established 
he set himself, from political motives, to restore the 
disused altars, believing this to be the surest means to 
confirm his own power and to give coherence to his 
system of government. Although he was an unbe- 
liever himself, he ostentatiously displayed on all occa- 
sions his respect for the faith of the people. He re- 
built the temples and restored the ancient customs. 
Even as consul he caused eighty-six temples to be 
rebuilt. At the same time, also, he instituted new 
modes of worship, which were only in truth the repro- 
duction of the old under new names. He caused this 
restoration of religion to be observed with great splen- 
dor, accompanied by the repetition of those secular 


(10) Ancient World and Christianity ; De Pressense, p. 422. 


388 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


eames which had been instituted under the Republic, 
in order to avert, by means of the special ceremonials 
which were connected with them, the threatened visi- 
tation of the plague. He attempted to compel others 
to honor the gods after his own external example. 
But the corpse could not be galvanized into life. The 
vast majority of Roman statesmen and Roman scholars 
were total disbelievers in the mythical divinities of 
the people and in the fables which related to them. 
They confessed their ignorance with regard to God, 
or, indeed, if there were a God at all. They had no 
definite notions with regard to immortality, and did 
not hesitate to express their doubts with regard to any 
future life. Julius Cesar himself, when the Roman 
Senate debated the question how Catiline should be 
punished, opposed the infliction of capital punishment 
upon the ground that death would put an end to pain, 
and that therefore it would not be sufficient penalty. 
Even those who acknowledged the existence of God 
stripped him of every personal attribute. The elder 
Pliny, in a chapter upon the subject of God in his 
Natural History, says: ‘‘ Whatever God be, if there 
be any other god (than the world), and wherever he 
exists, he is all sense, all sight, all hearing, all life, all 
mind, and all within himself.” He declared the folly@ 3 
of believing in gods who were personified virtues or 
vices, with their marriages, quarrels and crimes. 


He held that the deification of men was the best sort - 


of worship. He declared it ridiculous to suppose that 

the great head of all things paid any regard to human 

affairs; that it would be “ polluted by such a disagree- 
(11) Nat. His. II, 5. 


CONNECTION WITH GREEK PHILOSOPHY. 389 


able and complicated office.” Cato and Cesar openly 
acknowledged their skepticism in the Senate. Lucre- 
tius pursued every form of religious faith vindictively. 
He regarded each as a gigantic spectre trampling the 
human race with heavy feet, and looking down from 
on high with a menacing aspect, which it was the 
business of men to defy. He regarded the gods as 
the mere offspring of fear, and the universe as a 
result of chance. The comfortless conclusion of the 
vast majority of Roman scholars is stated by Pliny in’ 

the most heartless unconcern when he says: ‘“ There | 
is nothing certain save that nothing is certain, and| 

there is no more wretched and yet arrogant being | 
than man. ‘The: best thing which has been given to 
man amid the many torments of this life is that he can. 
take his own life!” 

It would not be safe to assuine that this skepticism 
was absolutely universal, nor that all the thinking men 
of that age were atheists. While we meet with fan- 
atics like Lucretius, unbelievers like Pliny, and con- 
scientious doubters like Cesar and Cicero; we meet 
with some, also, who made the effort to hold fast to 
the old faith. Such an one was Tacitus, whose faith 
in the gods seems to have been but little shaken; and 
Plutarch, who, in his own pagan way, was a pious and 
believing man. But such exceptions are very rare, 
and serve only to make the general hopelessness and 
disbelief of that despairing age the more conspicuous. 


CONNECTION WITH GREEK PHILOSOPHY. 


We have observed in the chapter upon the Great 
Intellectual Revolution that the peculiar work of 


390 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


Socrates consisted in diverting the attention of men from 
that which was without to that which was within , 
them, and in encouraging them, as far as possible, to ) 
“know themselves.” The skepticism of the age, which 
we are now considering, had been brought about very 
largely in consequence of the revolution in the methods » 
of thought which Socrates had introduced. When 
Socrates directed the attention of men to the condition 
of their own souls, sin could no longer be veiled, as it 
was in the age which preceded him. ‘henceforth it 
was impossible for the soul to answer the question, 
‘How shall I obtain peace?” without having respect 
to its own sinfulness. | 

We have also observed, in connection with the in- 
fluence of Socrates, that he would have no trifling 
with the problems of human life and the interests of 
the human soul; that while he inculcated a hope of 
immortality, he taught that if there were indeed a 
future for the human soul, it could not possibly be a 
blessed one if that soul were contaminated with sinful 
passions; and that by such means he gave to the hu- 
man conscience a place of supreme importance. The 
effects of his teaching remained; but inasmuch as de- 


liverance from sin could not be found in connection 4, ; 
BS 


with the observance of any heathen rite, no matter 
from what quarter it might be obtained, peace of con- 
science was still as far removed as ever. It followed, 
therefore, that the influence of the Socratic philosophy 
brought about in time the very skepticism which he 
himself sought to avoid. ‘The world was made aware 
of its sin and was ready to confess it; but how should 
the world be rtd of tt? | Seneca discourses concerning 


CONNECTION WITH GREEK PHILOSOPHY. 391 


it in words which remind us of certain passages in the 
writings of St. Paul: ‘“ We have all sinned; some 
grievously, others more lightly; some purposely, others 
accidentally impelled or led astray. And not only have 
we transgressed, but we shall continue to do so until 
the end of life.” The human conscience was awake; 
its power was manifested in numerous examples. It 
was felt that the punishment of evil-doers was sure, 
even though the rewards of the righteous might be 
uncertain; and it was felt that the conscience itself 
possessed the power of punishing its own possessor. 

“We talk,” says Cicero, “as if all the miseries of man were 
comprehended in death, pain of body, sorrow of mind or judi- 
cial punishment, which I grant are calamitous accidents that 
have befallen many good men; but the sting of conscience, the 
remorse of guilt, is in itself the greatest evil, even exclusive of 
the external punishments that attend it.” (@*) 

But the world under the power of this influence, 
which began with the Socratic philosophy, had reached 
a stdte which may be described only in the word, Zer- 
rible. ‘There was the consciousness of sin, and the 
foreseen punishment of the guilty. But there was also 
the admitted inadequacy of all existing religions to 
help the sinner. There was, therefore, no apparent 
way of escape. Dualism, the intolerable blemish upon 
the Socratic philosophy, still remained. It was felt 
that evil would never pass away, but that it would 
continue forever to antagonize the good. Here was 
the great problem which ancient philosophy was never 
able to resolve, and which could not be settled until the 
light of the Gospel should be shed upon it. All the 
ancient systems made shipwreck upon the same rock, 

(12) De Legibus, IJ, Io. 


3092 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


even though they did not do so after the same manner; 
and they were bound to continue to do so until that 
Pilot should appear who alone knew the channel by 
which they might be guided safely into the harbor. 


REVOLT, 


It could scarcely be expected, therefore, that men 
would be content to accept the ethics of the Socratic 


philosophy when its philosophical conclusions brought - 


no certainty to their minds and gave no stability to 
their hopes. A generation had scarcely elapsed after 
the death of Socrates before the rise of two great 
schools of philosophy whose adherents at the birth of 
Christ numbered many more than all the disciples of 
Socrates which remained. 

In consequence of the teachings of Socrates and 
Plato, Greece was brought into that condition where 
she knew both too little and too much. She knew too 
little to worship the Unknown God, who had not yet 
been revealed to her; she knew too much to believe 
in any other. The position which she had reached in 
Socrates and his great disciple could not, therefore, be 
maintained, and a period of decadence succeeded. 
The followers of Aristotle eliminated the idea of God 
from their philosophy and asserted that no divinity 
was needed to explain the formation of the world. A 
skeptical school arose which wore a smile upon its face 
to conceal the bitterness which it carried in its heart. 
It pretended to expose the deceptions of the philos- 
ophers which preceded it, but in reality it trampled 
under foot everything that was high and holy. Its 
adherents followed the example of the Sophists who 


R , 
EVOLT. 393 


had preceded Socrates, in setting one philosopher 
against another—opposing Aristotle to Plato and Plato 
to Aristotle; and it was their pleasure to see these two 
illustrious thinkers transfix each other with their own 
darts and carry with them in their downfall the philos- 
ophy of which they were the exponents. They taught 
that men might cease to trouble themselves with re- 
gard to such questions and subside into a dignified 
“apathy ” (atapa&ia). 


EPICUREAN AND.:STOIC. 


Out of this movement grew the Epicurean and Stoic 
schools of philosophy. Stoicism begins with Zeno of 
_ Citium, who was born 358 B.C. Epicureanism be- 
gins with Epicurus, born 342 B.C. In the days of 
decadence, which had now arrived, the philosophy of 
both these schools threw man back into himself, and 
was occupied simply with the question of individual 
happiness. ‘They met their common end in that ab- 
ject pessimism, in which the forlorn hope of false 
philosophy reached its last ditch. ‘The Stoic; vOuieon 
his pessimism, set before himself as his proud ideal, an 
austere apathy and a magnanimous self-denial.“ He 
would be untouched by passion, unmoved by pain, in- 
different to pleasure and undisturbed by any change 
of circumstances. In this way alone he expected to 
defeat the forces of sorrow and disappointment which 
beset his soul. To him pleasure was no good and pain 
no evil. He schooled himself to be untouched by 
either. He aimed to be sufficient unto himself. 

The Epicurean, out of his pessimism, cultivated the 


(18) Greek Philosophy ,; Zeller, $71. 


394 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


art of making himself happy.“” His first principle 
was that suffering of all kinds was to be avoided and 
happiness sought in pleasure; and his only guide in 
the choice of the latter was the means of escaping the 
former. On this ground virtue was desirable; mod- 
eration should be practiced and an injury should not 
be done to another lest that other should retaliate. 

The Stoic was a pantheist; the Epicurean a materi- 
alist. The Stoic taught that the human soul was cor- 
poreal, but animated by the universal soul, or reason; 
the Epicurean taught that it was composed of material 
atoms, which should perish when they became disin- 
tegrate. The Stoic believed in a universal divinity, 
present in everything; the Epicurean believed that 
the gods were material beings like himself, only more 
insensate and impassive. 

Transplanted to Rome, both systems of philosophy 
were materially modified. The epoch of productive 
speculation had passed away, and philosophy had 
arrived at that stage where it was not only incapable 
of originating new systems, but wherein it seemed un- 
able to apprehend the better elements of the old ones. 
‘The enchanted draught of speculation,” says Momm- 
sen, ‘is always dangerous, but when stale and diluted 
it is rank poison.” Such was the state of Greek 
philosophy when it entered Rome. The doctrines of 
Epicurus responded exactly to the instincts of Rome, 
and were eagerly embraced by its luxury-loving peo- 
ple, now enriched by the spoils of a conquered world. 
DePressense well remarks of this philosophy that “ if 

(14) Greek Philosophy , Zeller, § 76. 

(15) Mommsen, III, 511, seq. 


EPICUREAN AND STOIC. 395 


it had not existed it must needs have been invented.” 
It found an early champion in the poet Lucretius, who 
eagerly seized upon it as a weapon which he might 
use against the old mythology with that vindictive 
hatred which we have already remarked. “Let us 
trample religion under our feet,” he says, ‘‘and let our 
victory over it exalt us to heaven.” He claimed that 
religion was the height of immorality, the instigator of 
every crime. He would banish it from the earth and 
relieve the soul of the terrors which its imaginary 
gods had aroused. Like some Epicureans of our own 
day Lucretius supposed that man might be made free 
by destroying his belief in immortality; and he seri- 
ously endeavored to accomplish this by destroying the 
faith of the people of his own age. 

This philosophy therefore became at Rome a mere 
school of self-indulgence, and lost the refinement which, 
in Greece, had led it to recognize in virtue that which 
gave zest to pleasure and in temperance that which 
prolonged it. It called simply for a continuous round 
of physical delights; it taught the grossest sensuality; 
it proclaimed the inanity of goodness and the lawful- 
ness of lust. It was the road—sure, steep and swift, 
to awful demoralization. 

Stoicism on the other hand, transplanted to Rome, 
found its response in the nobler spirits of the age. It 
assumed an aspect much more severe than it had mani- 
fested at Athens, and rallied to itself many who strove 
to rise above the general degradation. In them it 
sought to kindle an aspiration after a purer faith and 
a better life; but it could not neutralize the deadly 
consequences of its first principles. Denying God and 


396 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


personal immortality, it had no basis for morality and 
no foundation for hope; and it was obliged to confess 
the fact. There was a tone of melancholy in its teach- 
ing which could not be disguised, a hopelessness 
which could not be hidden. A desolating fatalism 
pervaded the system. ‘The fates are our laws,” said 
the Roman Stoic. From the inexorable tyranny of 
these fates, however, he had one certain refuge, which 
he never failed to counsel; he 

“Could himself his own quietus make 

With a bare bodkin.” 

This had been the comfortless recourse of the Stoic 
from the first. Zeno and Cleanthes both committed 
suicide, and their example was followed by many a 
disciple.“ They freely declared that it was not 

‘¢ Nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Than to take arms against a sea of troubles, 4 
And by opposing end them.” 

Stoicism, as an eminent Frenchman has said, was 
“an apprenticeship for death.” It taught its disciples 
to live proudly, to suffer heroically, to die bravely— © 
that was all. It was a grim paradox; refined, but. 
determined cowardice; subtle, but abandoned selfish- 
ness. It contained no sympathy, no generosity, no 
humble resignation, no abiding peace. It proclaimed 
as the correct maxim of life, “Kill thyself and die erect 
in the consciousness of thy own strength.” Pliny, as 
we have already noticed, counseled it. Says Seneca: 


“Seest thou yon steep height, that is the descent to free- 
dom. Seest thou yon sea, yon river, yon well; freedom sits 
there in the depths. Seest thou yon low withered tree; there 


(16) Zeller, § 72. 


EPICUREAN AND STOIC. 397 


freedom hangs. Seest thou thy neck, thy throat, thy heart; 
they are the ways of escape from bondage.” 


And Seneca took his own medicine—a double dose 
of it, in fact; for he not only opened his veins, but took 
poison in addition. 

Surely heathenism has gone bankrupt and declared 
itself absolutely insolvent in the advice and example of 
its greatest Stoic. Despairing of every kind of happi- 
ness it has no further consolation for the evils of life than 
self-destruction. It knows no way in which to achieve 
victory over the world, but by escaping from the world. 
Indeed, there was no desire to believe in a world to 
come lest the future might be a continuance of the ills 
of the present. Says Pliny: 


“What folly it is to renew life after death. Where shall 
created beings find rest if you suppose that shades in hell and 
souls in heaven continue to have any feeling? You rob us of 
man’s greatest good—death. Let us rather find in the tranquility 
which preceded our existence the pledge of the repose which 
is to follow it.” 


Such then was the outcome of heathen philosophy. 
It is true that a counter revolt had appeared in the 
New Academy, which sheltered itself under the name 
of Plato, and attempted to restore the old Socratic tra- 
ditions. But it was a signal failure. Its very adher- 
ents soon abandoned the principles which they had 
attempted to hold, and the pagan mind fell back again 
into materialism or pantheism. The Epicurean and 
Stoic substantially divided the world between them. 
It was a lost world; and at last was conscious of its 
bitter misery. 

THE FINAL CONDITION: DESPAIR. 


We perceive now a state of society in which there 


aa 


398 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


is a purification of the human ideal and a development 
of noble aspirations, in connection with a sense of utter 
failure and an ever-deepening skepticism; a craving 
which was strong and universal to believe something, 
but a conviction that nothing was certain. ‘here was 
an apprehension and appreciation of the good and the 
true; but so soon as the hand was put forth to grasp 
them they vanished. The heathen world perceived 
the good, but could not prevent itself from following 
the evil. Yet as it could not accept the verdict of final 
failure, it became the more anxious for some mysteri- 
ous deliverance, which was the more increased by the 
intuition of the human heart. | 

Such was the condition of the thoughtful mind. It 
finds a complete illustration in the question which 
Pilate, a representative Roman, addressed to one whom 
he supposed to be only a Galilean peasant, who had 
been brought before him for judgment: “ What is 
truth?” Cicero, after referring to the doctriteases 
different philosophers concerning the human soul, says: 
‘Which of these opinions may be true a god may know; 
which may be only probable is a difficult question.” 
‘““ Ah! if one might only have a guide to truth,” sighs 
Seneca. ‘They were shut up to a hopeless condition in 
which they must patiently abide until from some 
quarter which they could not foresee, and in some way 
of which they could not conceive, relief should come 
to their vexed and impatient souls. The best of them 
and the wisest of them could but re-echo the words of 
Plato: ‘“‘We will wait for one, be it a god or god- 
inspired man, to teach us our religious duties and to 


take away the darkness from our eyes.” 


“ 
Ee 


THE FINAL CONDITION: DESPAIR. 399 


Then came feverish unrest, intolerable exnuz. 

The heart of the Roman world was consumed with 
desire which could not be gratitied; shaken with the 
agitation of a soul no longer master of itself. The 
hope of annihilation was the only consolation which it 
enjoyed, and in this heartless, sickening, stifling, over- 
whelming despair the representative of the Greco. 
Roman world abandoned himself to anything that 


might afford him some relief. 
* 2 * * + * 
* Ah! carry back thy ken, 
What, some two thousand years! Survey 
The world as it was then. 


“ Like ours it looked, in outward air, 
Its head was clear and true; 

Sumptuous its clothing, rich its fare; 
No pause its action knew. 


“¢ Stout was its arm, each thew and bone 
Seem’d puissant and alive— 

But ah! its heart, its heart was stone 
And so it could not thrive. 


“On that hard pagan world disgust 
And secret loathing fell; 

Deep weariness and sated lust 
Made human life a hell. 


“In his goodly hall with haggard eyes, 
The Roman noble lay; 

He drove abroad in furious guise 
Along the Appian Way. 


_ “* He made a feast, drank fierce and fast, 
And crowned his hair with flowers; 
No easier, nor no quicker passed 
The impracticable hours.” (” 


1%) Matthew Arnold's Poems, “Obermann Once More.” 


400 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


““Give me some fresh comfort,” cries Pliny the 
younger, in the anguish of his heart— 

“ Give me some fresh comfort, great and strong, such as I have 
never yet heard or read. Everything that I have read or heard 
comes back now to my memory, but my sorrow is too deep to 
be reached by it.” 

And we have finally in the death of Petronius a 
complete illustration of the character of the godless 
world. Petronius the attaché of Nero’s court, the 
great story-teller and wit, the master of ceremonies at 
many a game and banquet; the man whose authority 
upon matters of taste was such that he received the 
surname of ‘‘ Arbiter;’” the man who is known in liter- 
ature by his beautiful descriptions of the profligacy of 
his times—Petronius committed suicide because he 
feared that his jealous rival Tigellinus might displace 
him. He opened his veins that he might slowly bleed 


to death, and while the blood was flowing conversed | 


with his friends upon frivolous subjects. When a cer- 
tain ludicrous poem was read to him, or some laughable 
incident was narrated, which he wished to enjoy at 
length, his veins were tied up in order that his death 
might be retarded; and so he passed out into the dark- 
ness. Does history anywhere afford an illustration of 
such sardonic, grim and ghastly humor, and at the 
same time, of such pathetic hopelessness, in which it is 
not even conscious of its own despair, as this? 


INTENSE DiES Ri. 


But mankind had now reached the point to which 


God must bring it. The desire for salvation had ) 
become distinct. Fallen man had recovered his sense — 


of the need of pardon and reconciliation. While God 


: 


INTENSE DESIRE. 401! 


was still unknown, and his truth unseen, the conscience 
groped towards the light as plants which grow in mines 
stretch forth their blanched and brittle tendrils towards 
that sun whose beams have never reached them. 

There was a world within this hopeless and godless 
heathen world—-in it, but scarcely of it. The dispro- 
portion between the members of the two is of little 
moment. By means of a small minority the Lord 
accomplishes his purposes, and the privileged few be- 
come the means of blessing to all. On those heads 
which are lifted up towards heaven arises the dawn of 
that new day, which, first touching the mountain- 
tops, does not close until all the valleys have been filled 
with light. Our attention, then, must not be taken up 
with the reckless crowd, the degraded aristocracy, the 
superstitious populace, the heartless men of the world. 
We must remember the honest strivings after the good 
and the eager thirst for truth which we perceive to 
have been exhibited even in that age, and find therein 
the promise of something better. To lead humanity 
to sigh after deliverance was the great design of God 
in this peculiar work of preparation. This is very beau- 
tifully exhibited in the character of Clement, a noble 
Roman of that age, as depicted in ‘ The Clementines,” 
a sort of philosophical romance written in the second 
or third century. Clement says of himself: 

“© T was from my early youth exercised with doubts, which 
had found entrance into my soul I hardly know how. Will my 
existence terminate with death? And will no one hereafter be 
mindful of me when infinite time sinks all human things in for- 
getfulness? It will be as well as if I had not been born! When 


was the world created? And what existed before the world 
was? If it had a beginning will it likewise have an end? And 


402 THE DESPAIR OF HEATHENISM. 


after the end of the world what will he there then? If not per- 
chance the silence of death, something of which at present no 
conception can be found? Incessantly haunted by such thoughts 
as these I grew pale and emaciated, and what was most terrible, 
whenever I strove to banish this anxiety, I only experienced the 
renewal of my sufferings in an aggravated degree. I was not 
aware that I had in these thoughts a friendly companion, guiding 
me on towards eternal life, as IL afterwards learned by experience, 
and thanked the great Disposer of all for granting me such guid- 
ance; since it was by these thoughts—so distressing at first, that 
I was impelled to seek till I found that which I needed.” 

His fruitless endeavor to obtain peace in the study 
of philosophy, in the investigation of foreign religions, 
and in other ways, is described in the same pathetic 
language. “Thus was I driven to and fro, and from” 
the bottom of my heart sighed for deliverance.”” Such 
was his condition when he heard and accepted the 
Gospel.“ And there were thousands like him. St. 
Augustine, after he had read Cicero’s ‘“ Hortensius,” 
which in concentrated form presents the very best 
which the heathen world could offer to the seeking 
soul of that age, testifies: “Then I arose and went | 
to Christ.” Such was the effect of the despair of ° 


heathenism. 


(18) From Neander’s Introduction to Church flistory. 


CHAPTER XIV. 
THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


“The whole world lieth in wickedness,” says the 
Apostle John,” in another of those concise sayings in 
which the sacred writers characterized their age. The 
Apostle Paul in the first chapter of the epistle to the 
Romans depicts the wickedness to which John refers, 
in language as delicate and words as few as could pos- 
sibly be used in justice to the subject. Aftera reference 
to the unspeakable uncleanness of heathen society he cat- 
alogues the criminals of his own time. ‘ Being filled with 
all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malicious- 
ness; full of envy, murder, deceit, malignity; whisper- 
ers, back-biters, haters of God; insolent, haughty, boast- 
ful; inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
without understanding, covenant-breakers, without 
‘natural affection, unmerciful.” That his picture is 
not overdrawn, but if anything rather the reverse, 
appears from a number of independent sources, such as 
the writings of the early christian apologists, the con- 
fessions of the heathen writers and the remains of 
heathen civilization which are preserved at the present 
day. It would almost seem as though, in the destruc- 
tion of Herculaneum and Pompeii, which occurred a 
few years after Paul entered the Imperial City, a part 
of the Almighty’s purpose was to bury out of sight the 
evidences of heathen impurity as it existed in the age 


(1) r John, v: 19. (2) Rom. i: 29 (R. V.). 


404 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


in which Christ appeared, and preserve them so 
securely that there might not be any question as to 
their identity when they should be offered in testi- 
mony before the bar of the enlightened judgment of an 
age succeeding after eighteen centuries had rolled 
away. The Musee Borbonico at Naples contains a 
collection of articles which the excavations in these 
ancient cities have yielded, showing the very remark- 
able degree of cultivation which existed at the time; 
but there is one room in that museum which women 
are not allowed to enter. This is all the more sugges- 
tive when we remember that in the modern city in 
which the museum stands, there is very much to give 
offense to the pure eyes of Protestant women. But 
this room reeks with an impurity which christian civil- 
ization has never known, even in its most corrupt day 
and under the most unfavorable influences; and contains 
the most hideous proofs of the abject infamy of that 
heathenism which was rotten to the core. The world 
had reached a moral condition very similar to that 
which appeared in the age immediately preceding the 
Flood, when Noah appeared as a preacher of righteous- 
ness, and a new moral regime was instituted; similar 
to that which was found at a later period, at the time 
of the call of Abraham, and the formal organization. of 
the Church of God; and the manner of the destruction 
of Pompeii bears such a remarkably close resemblance to 
the manner of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 
that we are tempted to believe that the Almighty deter- 
mined upon the catastrophe in order to invite atten- 
tion to his condemnation of the vices and crimes which 
had become intolerable even to the God of all mercy, 


EARLY ROMAN VIRTUES. 405 


and that again, at a time when in sending his own Son 
he was to renew his covenant and extend its privileges 
to all mankind. 

This chapter is devoted to some description of the 
moral condition of the heathen world at this juncture 
in order that the hopelessness of heathenism may still 
further appear. 


EARLY ROMAN VIRTUES. 


The conquerors of the world had become the slaves 
of their own passions. The virtues which had produced 
those virile natures and energetic spirits whereby the 
world had been brought into subjection were no longer 
practiced. During the early days of the Republic the 
morality of Rome was distinguished by its simplicity 
and its austerity. The Roman community was a vir- 
tuous one. ‘lhe sanctity of marriage was maintained. 
It is true that the woman remained subject to her father 
or husband; in the first case belonging so entirely to 
him that he might at any moment resume all that he 
had ever bestowed upon her; and in the second case, 
according to the ancient legal phrase, ‘‘ under her hus- 
band’s hand ’’—that is to say, he possessed the right of 
life or death over her. But although this may ap- 
pear severe to the disciples of Christ we must remem- 
ber that in actual practice the severity was not so great 
as we might imagine. Women were protected by 
public opinion, and the standard of virtue was so high 
that their husbands remained true to them. Plutarch 
declares that it was two hundred and thirty years 
before a single divorce took placein Rome. Dionysus 


(3) History of the Romans Under the Emptre, Merivale, ch. xxii. 
Mommsen, I, 80. 


400 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


of Halicarnassus claims that it was more than five ~ 


hundred. It is certain that for a long period manners 
were comparatively pure. The people were not only 
virtuous, but, as a rule, temperate, industrious, and— 
after their own standards, conscientious. No immodest 
pictures were permitted; no nude statues of the gods 
were tolerated, and the children of the household grew 
up under the watchful care of modest mothers who 
carefully prescribed the simple duties of domestic life. 
Public virtues also prevailed to the same extent as 
domestic ones. Macaulay® draws an unchallenged 
picture of the Republican days in the verse: 


‘Then none was for a party, 
Then all were for the State; 
Then the great man helped the poor, 
And the poor man loved the great. 
Then lands were fairly portioned, 
And spoils were fairly sold; 
The Romans were like brothers, 
In the brave days of old.” 


CONQUEST AND CORRUPTION. 


But the corruption of the morals of the Roman ° 


people began at the same time and under the same 
influence as the corruption of their faith. It was intro- 
duced with the conquest of Carthage and Corinth, and 
completed with the subjugation of Egypt and the East. 
Down to the time of the dictator Sylla (B. C. 82), 
Rome was a comparatively poor city. It then became 
rapidly enriched, until with the organization of the 
Empire, its wealth appeared to be inexhaustible. Upon 


(4) Beginnings of Christianity; Fisher, 197. Ancient World and 
Christianity , De Pressense, 160. 
(5) Lays ef Ancient Rome; “¥Horatius.” 


CONQUEST AND CORRUPTION. 407 


Pompey’s return from the East (B. C. 61) he exhib- 
ited in his triumph the treasures which he had collected 
in the plunder of Greece—plate, statuary, gems, and the 
like. These he bestowed upon his friends; and the 
desire for such possessions distinctly dates from the 
event. In the reign of Augustus the capital city 
underwent a transformation similar to that which 
appears in the external life of a modern speculator 
when he suddenly acquires a fortune. Augustus boasted 
that he found it of brick and would leave it of marble. 
The public buildings displayed incomparable magnifi- 
cence. Splendid temples were built, costly aqueducts 
erected, public baths furnished at great expense and 
the public squares adorned with hundreds of statues. 
The places of amusement were enlarged and embel- 
lished, no expense was spared in maintaining them, 
and the emperors of the period immediately succeed. 
ing that of Augustus even sprinkled the floors of the 
circus with gold dust.” The rulers of Rome vied 
each with his predecessor in the display of his personal 
surroundings, until the culmination of magnificence was 
attained in the Golden House of Nero. It embraced 
fields and gardens, meadows and forests and even a 
lake. Its walls were overlaid with gold and adorned 
with precious stones. ‘The banqueting rooms were 
decorated with carved and gilded ceilings, so arranged 
that they might be changed to conform to the various 
courses of the meal, and so constructed as to shower 
perfumes and flowers upon the guests. ‘Now I am 
lodged as a man should be,” said Nero, when he took 


possession of it. 


(6) Merivale; ch. iv 
(7) The Ancient World and Christianity » De Pressense; p. 424. 


408 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


The wealthy Romans aped the manners of their 
masters. M. Lepidus the Consul in 87 B. C. (the year 
that Sylla died), erected the most magnificent dwell- 
ing ever seen in Rome.® But within a generation it 
was surpassed by a hundred others, until we read of a 
single private dwelling which sold for 15,000,000 sest- 
erces ($750,000). Emulation became a passion. A 
residence which embraced only four acres was consid- 
ered small, and the man who owned but a single dwell- 
ing almost contemptible. The wealthy Roman had 
his city house and his country house; and for miles 
away from Rome, and up into the mountains stretched 
the splendid parks of the aristocracy. The houses 
were built of costly stone, collected from every quarter 
of the world—marble, alabaster, serpentine, and mosa- 
ics of more precious material The inclosures were 
ornamented with fancy shrubbery, fountains and stat- 
ues, while a rich crimson awning stretched from roof 
to roof. A company of slaves, themselves gorgeously , 
attired, waited upon the lordly proprietors, and every 
known delight was enjoyed by them. 

With the incoming of all this wealth and luxury, 
effeminacy and vice were also introduced, and the old 
Ikoman virtues speedily disappeared. The refinement 
with which the Greek had disguised both his skepti- 
cism and his sensuality misled the mind of the more 
prosaic Roman. The relaxation of the bonds of relig- 
ious belief and the pernicious reasoning of a false phi- 
losophy had overtaken the Greek in the impotence of 
his national senility. But when he was brought into 
contact with the Roman his skepticism and immorality 


(8) Merivale; VIII. (9) Mommsen; Vol. IV; p. 611. 


CONQUEST AND CORRUPTION. 409 


prevailed with a heroic people, who were just entering 
upon the full vigor of national maturity. Their 
strength was that of a young giant; and by this miser- 
able mesallzance their vices became those of a young 
giant also. The spirit of the refined and thoughttul, 
but doubting and sensual Greek, became the forceful 
influence in silencing their scruples, awakening their 
passions and encouraging them to tyranny, rapine and 
lust. It threw them upon the world, with all their 
native energy, relentless, cruel, insatiable. 

In their early days the Greeks had not been lacking 
in charity and other distinguished virtues. But, like 
the younger son in the Saviour’s parable, they had 
wasted their substance and squandered their portion. 
Immodesty, with its train of evil attendants, became 
their prominent characteristic. They married wives 
only that they might have children and their house- 
holds receive suitable care; but the courtesan was ever 
the complement of the wife and exercised a greater 
influence. She was the favorite model for the very 
statues of their goddesses, and the Greek often lifted 
his hands in prayer to the representation of a notorious 
prostitute ! 

How disastrous, then, when Greek culture entered 
the abode of Roman virtue! How insidiously, but 
how swiftly, the work of corruption was carried on. 
Modesty stole abashed away, and with it disappeared 
the whole company of virtues. 

Not only did the Romans become impure, but they 
became also cruel, covetous and faithless. Lust was 
attended by hatred, insincerity and brutality. Let us 
observe some of the particulars of this corruption. 


410 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


POLTTICATS 


The enjoyment of extraordinary power is a tempta- 
tion to corruption which the natural man has never 
been able to resist. So soon as the Romans had 
brought the world under their yoke and become con- 
scious of their mastery, the same effects were pro- 
duced in character which we often find exhibited upon 
a small scale in the village tyrant or the big bully of 
the country school. ! 

Augustus came to the throne at the inauguration of 
the most profound peace which the world had ever 
seen. But while the empire was governed by an admir- 
able code of laws and the conflicting passions of man- 
kind were to some extent allayed; the peace which 
was produced was still a false one, inasmuch as it was 
maintained by force. It was the peace of the dove in 
the claws of the eagle, too tightly clasped to struggle. 
The military power of the Romans under Augustus 
comprised 470,000 men in all, of which 85,000 were 
sailors. ‘The larger part of the army was stationed 
upon the borders of the Empire, or in the countries 
which had recently been subjugated, and there re- 
mained 20,000 pretorian guards in Italy. Compared 
with the great standing armies even of the present 
day this was a very remarkable showing; but in view 
of the limited population of the Roman Empire, and 
particularly the disproportion between the native Ro- 
mans and their conquered subjects, the military estab- 
lishment was simply enormous.“ This great host 
was thoroughly organized, equipped and disciplined. 


(10) Merivale estimates the population of Italy at 7,000,000; the Euro- 
pean portion of the empire at 40,000,000; the entire empire at 85,000,000, 
Chap, xxxix. 


, PS 


POLITICAL. AII 


In the ancient days the Roman army was composed of 
free-born citizens who served without pay in a cause 
to which their own patriotism invited them, and when 
the campaign was closed they returned to their homes 
and to their peaceful avocations. But not so in later 
times. The army was maintained by enormous wages. 
It was largely composed of veterans derived from the 
provinces, who had seen service in every clime and 
who had made war the business of their lives. They 
seldom knew such a thing as defeat, and knew not 
how to accept it; and through their frequent experi- 
ences of violence and bloodshed they had lost all the 
finer feelings of humanity. The very heart of the 
Republic was thus corrupted in the corruption of its 
legions. But under the Empire this great establish- 
ment was under the control of a single man, and ex- 
isted for his sole benefit or for that of those whom he 
was pleased to favor. It operated to increase the 
power and wealth and consequent enjoyment of the 
aristocracy of Rome. The consequence was that polit- 
ical demoralization which produced in time a class 
of emperors of which Caligula and Nero were types. 

Augustus and the emperors who immediately suc- 
ceeded him were, as a matter of course, Epicureans 
in their philosophy, who looked upon life as a round 
of pleasure, who had no concern for their fellows and 
no desire beyond their own security in the luxury 
wherewith they had surrounded themselves. ‘The ele- 
vation of these men and their favorites to power very 
speedily corrupted the public conscience and debauched 
public character. The noble Roman became an in- 
former to escape becoming himself a victim, an execu- 


412 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


tioner to save his own execution, and flattered the in. 
4amy of his masters in order that he might not fall 
under their disapprobation. The whole populace had 
become servile and base—bent beneath an ignomin- 
ious, stupid and cruel domination. Even those who 
had formerly maintained their incorruptible dignity, 
such as senators and knights, vied with the common 
people in the common degradation. 

Moreover there were certain customs which had 
grown up in connection with the extension of the Roman 
conquests which ministered to the brutality of the 
people, the most conspicuous of which was the Roman 
Triumph, the public festival with which the conqueror 
was received upon his return from the country which 
he had subjugated. The Roman Triumph was the 
most brutal spectacle which the world has ever seen.) 
The procession entered the triumphal gate and passed 
through the Via Sacra to the temple of Jupiter upon 
the hill of the Capitol. It was led by the Senate and 
the magistrates of the city, who were immediately fol- 
lowed by long trains of carriages on which were dis- 
played the spoils of conquest, including everything 
which had been borne away from the conquered peo- 
ple. ‘Then came the strange animals of the desolated 
country, the arms and standards of the hostile leaders, 
and behind them in turn the leaders themselves with 
their wives, children and others of their kindred who 
had been taken captive, loaded with the fetters in 
which the conqueror had bound them. Finally the 
victorious general himself appeared, the principal figure 
of the procession, in a chariot drawn by four horses, 


(1) Outlines of History ; Fisher, 160 


* 
Se 


SOCIAL. 413 


attended by slaves, clothed in a robe embroidered with 
gold, a bough of laurel in his hand and a wreath of 
laurel upon his brow. Behind him his family appeared, 
to share in his honors, and finally the soldiers whom he 
had led to victory. The temples were then opened, 
and incense was burned to the gods. Buildings were 
decorated and the population thronged the streets of 
the city in holiday attire. As the procession climbed 
the hill of the Capitol a number of the captives, gener- 
ally those of high rank, were taken into the adjoining 


1) The festivities 


Mamertine prison and put to death.‘ 
ended with a public feast in one of the temples, after 
which the conqueror was escorted home by a crowd 
of citizens. 

Thus, every time that the Roman Triumph was re- 
peated, it taught the people a lesson of cruelty, spolia- 
tion and outrageous injustice, all associated in their 
minds with the observance of religious ceremonies. 
They believed that the gods had given them the vic- 
tory and with it absolute control over the persons and 
property of their conquered subjects. Nothing was 
too sacred for them to appropriate to their own use; 
no feelings were too tender for them to violate; no per- 
son was too dignified for them to subject to the most 
menial serfdom or torture with the most horrible 
cruelty. In such principles as these the Roman, after 
the organization of the Empire, received his political 
education. 

| SOCIAL. 

But the political degradation of the people was slight 

compared with the demoralization of social, domestic 


(12) Merivale, ch. xii. 


AI4 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


and religious life. As the conquests of the Romans 
were extended and the enormous wealth of the con- 
quered provinces flowed to Rome the results appeared 
in the obliteration of the middle class, upon which 
every nation must rely for the perpetuity of its free 
institutions. The population of Italy indeed began to 
diminish with the extended campaigns of Rome. The 
slaughter of men in battle was one cause, but not the 
chief cause of this fact. Labor had fallen into disgrace. 
The work by which a livelihood was earned was des- 
pised as ignoble, and such professions only as those of 
medicine, architecture and commerce were regarded as 
honorable employments for a freeman. The mechan- 
ic’s occupation was considered degrading. A work. | 
shop was an shameful thing, and a freeman could not 
sink lower in the social scale than to become a tiller of 
the soil.“ Thus the race of independent Italian yeomen 
was extirpated,“ and in the place of the farmers who 
had once owned and worked the soil, and who had 
subsequently filled the Roman armies, there were found 
the throng of bondmen who labored in the field with 
fetters upon their limbs. The multiplication of slaves 
increased with the Roman conquests. The legions dis- 
banded by the conqueror were rewarded with property 
in Italy. When Antonius returned from the battle of 
Phillipi, he rewarded his veterans with land in Italy to 
the extent of fifty to three hundred acres a piece. The 
population of unfriendly cities was expelled to make 
room for them, and even the faithful sections suffered 
toa considerable extent. The poet Virgil was for a time 


(13) Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism , Ullhorn, 106. 
(14) History of Rone ; Mommsen, III, 209; IV, 607. 


DEPENDENTS. ce 
415 


a sufferer by this high-handed confiscation. Horace, 
also, was reduced to poverty and hundreds of landed 
proprietors were rendered bankrupt.“ Conquered 
territories were much more severely treated. ~The 
soldiers entered triumphantly into the provinces which 
had been subjugated, drove away the inhabitants and 
took possession of their lands. But these old soldiers 
seldom became industrious farmers. What they had 
obtained so easily was as easily thrown away. Their 
holdings passed into the hands of speculators and became 
the investments of Roman magnates. In this way arose 
those immense estates, some of them miles in extent, 
which were found under the Empire, in the place of 
the small farms of the Republic. As these couid be 
worked more profitably with slave labor than with 
free, the slaves everywhere drove out their free compet- 
itors;)) Uhistin’ turn produced another evil. As the 
estates became extravagantly large, and the quality 
of the labor correspondingly poor, farming ceased to 
be profitable. Grazing took its place. The luxuriant 
cornfields and the broad orchards gave place to immense 
meadows, in the midst of which stood the prison-like 
dwellings of the slaves. 

As the country districts became depopulated the 
cities became crowded." Those who could not main- 
tain themselves flocked into the larger towns, especially 
to Rome, and an immense dependent population was 
thus gathered together.“ | 


DPR NDE IN >: 


The mass of the Roman population thus consisted 


(15) Merivale; ch. xxvil. (lv) Mommsen; I, 365. 
(16) Beginnings of Christianity , Fisher, 193. 


416 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


of two most unmanageable classes, slaves and men- 
dicants. Let us consider them in order. 

(1.) Slaves: Among the 12,000,000 native Ro- 
mans under Augustus there were scarcely 2,000 pro- 
prietors,“* and it is reckoned that inthe entire Empire 
there must have been 6,000,000 slaves, of which 
1,300,000 or more were in Italy.“ These creatures 
were not regarded as men, but as so much insensate 
property. The slave was not supposed to have a free 
will nor any claim whatever upon the justice of his 
master, nor any capacity whatsoever for virtue in him- 
self. Such had been the sentiment of the world, and 
its wisest men had from the first defended it. Aristotle 
justified slavery on the ground that some men are 
capable only of bodily labor.” Varro in his work on 
agriculture names three kinds of implements for tillage: 
the dumb, such as wagons; those that utter inartic- 
ulate sounds, such as oxen; and those that talk.@» 
The slave then is simply an instrument for tillage. 


Even Cicero, writing to a friend concerning the death 


of a slave, apologizes for his feelings concerning him. 
Speaking of one of the preetors who had caused a slave 
to be crucified as a punishment for some slight offense 
in the chase, he significantly says, “ thes might, perhaps, 


seem harsh.” The slave had no rights; he could not 
hold property, and therefore he could not be prosecuted — 


for theft. He could not contract marriage, and no 
action could be brought against him for adultery. He 
was not supposed to have any relations, and although 


(18) Merivale; ch. ili. . 

(19) Mommsen; III, 494. 

(20) Outlines of Greek Philosophy ; Zeller, § 62. 
(21) Ullhorn, 132. 


n 


a 


it might be said of him that he had a father or children, 
the language possessed no legal meaning. His testi- 
mony was not admitted in a court of justice, and if it 
was to be taken he was first subjected to torture. 
Slaves were bought and sold, given and received, inher. 
ited and bequeathed, according to caprice or need. 
They might be hired or lent, and if the one to whom 
they were committed treated them badly, it was not 
regarded as an injury to a person; but merely as a 
deterioration of property, and the loss was made up to 
the owner. The slave market was conducted as a 


cattle market, and its contents when purchased were 


assigned according to their capacities to some handi- 
craft or art, and even to begging or the brothel. They 
were often chained in front of the gate as we chain our 
dogs. Inthe museum at Naples there is a cast of a 
Pompeian slave, which was made by filling the cavity in 
which the body had rested with plaster, showing the 
iron band about his waist to which the chain was 
fastened. 

Slaves who ‘cultivated the fields suffered severely. 
They worked in chains and spent the night on the damp 
ground of their prison houses. But their condition 
was scarcely as bad as that of the slaves who labored 
in the great factories, in their scanty clothing and their 
heavy chains, compelled to toil all the day in the filthy 
workhouse without respite. 

Certain pictures which have been given to us by the 
authors of the time reveal the condition and sufferings 
of these poor people. There was nothing to prevent 
an irritable or drunken master from exercising his 
cruelty upon an innocent slave except the pecuniary 


418 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


loss which he might suffer, and this could be but little, 
as the market was glutted with the commodity. <A 4 
slave who had given offense might be sent to the arena | 
or flung to the fishes. Juvenal speaks of those who 
employed an ofhcer by the year to lash their slaves, 
and who was permitted to go on with his cruel work 
until the scourge dropped from his hand from very 
weariness. Women seem to have been as oppressive 
in their treatment of their slaves as men. A woman 
of violent temper furnishes a slave to be crucified with- 
out even the inquiry as to his innocence. Another 
lays the whip over the bare shoulders of the maid who 
is dressing her hair. Cato sowed dissension among 
his slaves in order to prevent them from conspiring 
together; and after a supper which he had given to 
certain guests he took his whip and laid it upon those 
servants who had failed to do their part to his satis- 
faction. ‘The slave must often stand the whole night 
long behind the chair of his drunken master to render 
the most repulsive services, and if he should so much 
as sneeze or cough and thus disturb the peace of his 
master, woe to him! He might be scourged until the 
blood came for some slight offense. The emperor 
Caligula caused a slave who had made a trifling mis- | 
take at a public spectacle, to be thrown into prison 
for several days in succession, and then executed 
him because his wounds were offensive. Another 
noble Roman condemned a slave who carelessly broke 
a valuable vase at a banquet in the presence of the 
emperor Augustus, to be thrown to the fishes. But 
even this was not the worst. According to the Roman 
law when a master was killed in his house all the slaves 


DEPENDENTS. 419 


who had spent the night under his roof were executed 
if the murderer was not discovered, and this law was 
in force until the time of the Empire.” A Roman 
prefect in the time of Nero was murdered and 400 
slaves of both sexes and of all ages, even little children, 
were put to death. 

We can scarcely estimate the demoralization which 
ensued in consequence of this system, which, always 
evil, was especially evil under the system that obtained 
in heathen countries. The slaves themselves could 
not be other than that which they were considered to 
be. As they were supposed to be incapable of virtue 
they naturally became dishonest and licentious. The 
influence of their character spread to the freemen as 
well. Inasmuch as children were largely committed 
to their care, the contamination of the youth of the 
Empire became very rapid, and the generation grew 
up ina familiarity with all that was treacherous and 
vile. Such then were the members and such the con- 
dition of the first class of dependents in the Roman 
Empire. 

(2.) The second class were the mendzcants. This 
consisted of a multitude of vagabonds who had rushed 
to the cities—especially the capital city, from all quart- 
ers, for the purposes of pleasure or of crime, and in 
order to be fed at the public expense. Not less than 
200,000 persons were supported by donations from the 
government of money and provisions, to whom are to 
be added those who made mendicancy a profession, 
and who picked up their living by begging or by theft. 
A terrible contrast was exhibited between the extremes 


(22) The Beginnings of Christianity ; Fisher, 209. 


420 THE WORLD LYING IN. -WICKEDINESS: 


of wealth and poverty, as they presented themselves to 
the eye in the chief city of the world—opulence and , 
luxury upon the one hand and extreme destitution upon ' 
the other. In the early days of the Empire grain was 
delivered to the Roman citizens at a moderate price; 
but the emperor Claudius passed a law which provided 
for its gratuitous distribution. ‘Those who depended 
upon the public distribution of wheat multiplied from 
year to year, and as each successive ruler naturally 
courted favor with the people the tendency to become 
dependent naturally increased. At certain times the ° 
effort was made to reduce the number. It reached | 
320,000 in the days of Julius. Cesar.“ Afterwards, 
through the deportation of colonies, it was reduced to 
100,000. But the constant tendency was toward 
renewed and rapid increase. On an appointed day of 
the month each person enrolled in the list received his 
check for five bushels of wheat, and this amount was 
measured out from the public storehouse to every one 
who brought and showed his credentials. These checks 
were frequently sold, especially as the measure was so 
large that it was more than enough for a single person. 
In addition to the grain, gifts of money were often 
bestowed by those anxious to retain their power, and 
even boys became the recipients of the benefaction. 

It must be remembered that this was not benevolence, 
inasmuch as no one but a Roman citizen was taken 
into account. ‘The gifts were not bestowed upon the) 
poor or the sick or the otherwise needy, but upon 


strong and healthy men fully able to earn a living for | 
themselves. It is simply to be regarded as a portion of 


(23) Mommsen, IV, 5or. 


GAMES. 421 


the spoils of a conquered world which the Roman 
authorities considered it just to bestow upon the 
Roman people. ‘The character, as well as the amount, 
of the gifts improved with the demand. In the days 
of the emperor Augustus the people demanded wine in 
addition to their wheat; and at a considerably later day 
bread, already baked, and oil were distributed. 

Thus the mass of the people lived by alms, while 
the pampered few who possessed the wealth revelled 
in incomparable luxury. The great middle class 
had been swept from Roman society. Those who 
attempted to earn their living were dependent not 
upon wages, but upon such gifts as their patron might 
bestow upon them, and even they, while rendering the 
most contemptible services, were often subjected to the 
most shameful and degrading treatment. ‘The great 
mass of the people, however, lived in an idleness which 
was well nigh complete, and if not possessed of means 
were supported by the state. 

GAMES. 

Such were the chief features of Roman social life, 
inasmuch as they included the larger part of the popu- 
lation; but they were by no means the most demoraliz- 
ing and disgusting. Other features were in keeping 
with them, parts of the same degraded system. As 
the vast population of Rome was not only hungry but 
idle, it became a necessity to provide for its occupa- 
tion; so that the condition of Rome at this period has 
been justly characterized in the association of two words 
which represented the cry of the Roman’ populace— 
“¢ Bread and Games!” ‘These were the two things to 
which they felt that they had a right, and as they 


422 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


demanded the food so also they demanded the amuse- 
ment. ‘Those in power found it well to occupy in this 
way the attention of the people, and thus divert their 
thoughts from the loss of their liberty. The great 
gatherings of the circus and of the amphitheatre 
took the place of those former assemblies in which 
the Romans had convened to regulate their public 
affairs. These entertainments were provided at an 
enormous expense, by the emperors who furnished 
them. Even the most economical felt obliged to 
provide for them, and the most inflexible were forced 
to yield to the pleasure of the people. The circus in 
the day of Julius Cesar furnished seats for 150,000 


nents 


men; ‘Titus subsequently added seats for 100,000 


more.“ Here were exhibited foot-races, feats upon 
horseback, and an entertainment similar to that of the 
modern circus, accompanied by the grossest indecen- 
cies.) The characteristic thing, however, was the 
chariot-race, in which the greatest interest centered. 
Gladiatorial contests also furnished a spectacle of which 
the Romans were passionately fond. In these, men, 
often in large numbers, fought to the death with each 
other or with wild beasts, for the amusement of the 
spectator; and the demagogues of the Empire vied 
with each other in their efforts to minister to the popu- 
lar passion. Julius Cesar, 65 B. C., caused not less than 
320 pairs of gladiators to engage in mortal combat. 
In the games which Augustus instituted 10,000 men 
were engaged, and they were celebrated for 66 days 


(*4) Fisher, 212. 


(25) Merivale, xli, in which is a fine description of the general social 
State at Rome. 


GAMES, 423 


together. ‘Titus gave the people a festival which lasted 
too days, and Trajan one which lasted 123 days. 

In connection with these games the people were fre- 
quently feasted in a manner more magnificent than 
usual. ‘lhe slaves of the emperor carried about meats 
and wine on broad platters or in huge baskets. Figs, 
dates and nuts were thrown among the people, and 
roasted fowls were distributed. 

The gladiators who took part in these games were 


_ condemned criminals, prisoners of war, slaves, and 
those who had adopted the life as a profession. It was 


a common thing for masters to condemn their slaves 
to the arena for some slight breach of discipline, and 
gangs of gladiators were kept by private persons, who 
either exhibited them themselves or hired them out to 
such as desired them for their entertainments. Gladia- 
torial schools were established in various places, notably 
at Capua, for the training of those who were to fight 
in the arena. Great establishments were conducted 
with this end in view, provided with their corps of offi- 
cials, physicians, fencing-masters, and the artisans who 
made or repaired the weapons. The gladiators them- 
selves were subjected to a rigid training and a careful 
diet, and were securely lodged in cells from which they 
could not escape. Skeletons of such gladiators have 
been exhumed from the ashes of Pompeii, with their 
iron fetters still upon them. 

Gladiatorial entertainments were conducted with the 
greatest pomp. On the night before the festival the 
people streamed into the arena in order to secure seats; 
for, immense as it was, it was yet difficult to obtain 
one of the places provided. A religious service intro- 


424 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


duced the sports, in connection with which a great 
procession, led by the magistrate who gave the games, 
entered the enclosure, the leader seated in his chariot 
followed by the images of the gods. The lower seats 
were set apart for the senators, in the midst of which 
was the gallery of the imperial family. The entertain- 
ment began with a procession of gladiators in full 
armor. They marched about the arena, halting before 
the emperor, whom they thus addressed: “Ave, 
Ceesar, Imperator, morituri te salutant,” At first there 
was a sham fight, which was soon followed by the sc- 
rious sport, which was conducted in terrible earnest. 
The vanquished gladiator begged for his life by hold- 
ing up a finger. ‘The spectators decided his fate. If 
they turned down their thumbs (fodlice verso), this 
was the signal for the fatal stroke. Women, and even 
timid girls, were accustomed to give the sign without 
hesitation. After the death blow had been given the 
slaves touched the body of the murdered man with hot 
irons, to be sure that his death was not pretended; then 
he was dragged out to a room where those who were 
found to be still alive were put to death. In the inter- 
vals between the battles the ground was turned over in — 
order to hide the blood, and was covered with a new 
coating of sand. 

But these battles between single individuals only 
whetted the unnatural appetites of the Romans for the 
exhibition of the horrible upon a larger scale. Specta- 
cles of this kind were therefore furnished, and maenifi- 
cent battles were given in the amphitheatre, which was 
sometimes flooded with water in order that the fight 
might be waged between mimic ships of war. Julius 


DOMESTIC. ~ 
425 


Cesar celebrated his triumph by a battle of this sort, 
in which 500 footmen, 300 cavalry and 20 elephants 
with men upon them, engaged. ‘This was only the 
beginning of a series of encounters between bodies of 
men, which the succeeding emperors instituted for the 
diversion of the people. 

Such was social life in the Roman Empire in the 
time of Christ, brutal in the extreme. We turn away 
from such scenes as it presents with loathing; but that 
which causes our most emphatic disapprobation is not 
so much the fact that such things existed, as that they 
received the approbation of the noblest men of the age. 
Pliny, Seneca and Ovid seemed to regard such things 
‘as trivial matters, rather to be commended than con- 
-demned, especially as those who engaged in them were 
usually slaves or criminals. Such was heathenism in 
its most cultivated age. Society was absolutely bereft 
of compassion. ‘It was the glory of Athens” says 
Archdeacon Farrar, ‘‘ that she alone had reared a soli- 


19(26) 


tary altar to Pity. But the people of that age 
regarded pity as a weakness. Even their women 
gloated over the agonies of the dying gladiator and the 
tortures of the executed slave. The “dark places of 


the earth were full of the habitations of cruelty.” 


DOvIE STIG 


There were darker and deeper vices than those 
which have been observed, existing in connection with 
the domestic life of the people; but there is no occasion 
to dwell at length upon the details. The Apostle 
Paul, in the passage quoted at the opening of this 


(26) Witness of History of Christ, 174. 


426 THE WORLD LYING [N WICKEDMNESS. 


chapter, has given an explicit description of the picture 
of domestic immorality which was furnished by the 
times. Marriage had fallen into deeper and deeper 
contempt.°? ‘The freedom of single life was preferred 
by both sexes. Seneca went so far as to affirm that 
marriage was only contracted in order that adultery 
might afford additional charm, and declared that who- 
ever had no love affairs was to be despised. Unnatural 
vices prevailed. Statesmen, judges, generals and 
emperors were guilty of them, and a degree of tolera- 
tion was granted to them which in modern times would 
render the perpetrator an outcast from society. 
Women abandoned themselves to excesses in which 
they vied with men. Even those of the aristocratic 
classes became dissatisfied with lovers of their own 
rank and sought others among the very dregs of the 
people, such as slaves and gladiators. They lived 
in the midst of obscene luxury. ‘Their time was con- 
sumed with defiling gossip; they surrounded themselves 
with buffoons; they paraded the town clothed with 
indecent garments; they perfumed themselves with 
most fragrant odors, and their nights were passed 
at banquets from which modesty had been banished. 
Ladies of high birth even enrolled themselves in the 
police registers that they might abandon themselves to. 
license. The Emperor Augustus himself ®” experienced 
what he regarded as the crowning sorrow of his life in 
the shameless deportment of his own daughter Julia; 
and in his old age the sorrow and shame was renewed 
(27) Mommsen, ili, 502. (30) Mommsen, iii, 509, 607. 


(28) See Fisher, 205. (31) Merivale, xxxvlis 
(29) De Pressense, 427. 


OME 
DOMESTIC 424 


and doubled in the similar indecencies of a grand- 
daughter who bore the same illustrious name. 

In such a state of society, even if marriages were 
celebrated, the children were few in number. They 
were not desired in advance and they were not wel- 
comed when they appeared. As there was no sense 
of the sacredness of human life infanticide was com- 
monly practiced. The right of parents to destroy 
their children was recognized both in law and in prac- 
tice. Although there had originally been a law among 
the Romans forbidding their destruction, it had become 
obsolete. The destruction of unborn children was 
even more commonly practiced than infanticide, and 
not only did moral disintegration ensue in the destruc- 
tion of family life, but the very foundations of the 
state were undermined in the decrease of the native 
population. 

The rulers of the world set the example to their 
subjects, themselves engaging without shame in the 
most shameless vices. The emperor Augustus endeav- 
ored to promote marriages by legal enactments. He 
issued edicts against adultery and offered a bounty to 
those who would take wives;° but he himself lived 
in the open practice of adultery. He courted the wives 
both of Mzecenas and Livy,“ and his palace gates 
stood open to the abandoned. 

The consuls who gave their names to the law against 
celibacy were neither of them married; and thus the 
attempt upon the part of the state to regulate the 
morals of society was known to be a gigantic fraud. 


(82) Merivale, xxxiil. 
(33) De Pressense, 423; Merivale, xxxv. 


428 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


RELIGIOUS. 


But the most disheartening thing in connection with 
the immorality of the heathen world, as may indeed be 
gathered from what appears already, is that it was 
directly associated with the practice of religion. The 
people did but imitate the example of their gods. 
Mercury was a robber; Hercules a gladiator; Jupiter 
a debauchee and Venus a courtesan of the lowest class. 
The old gods who, in the early ages of Greece and 
Rome, had been invested with a certain majesty, were 
now degraded to the lowest rank in consequence of 
the awakening conscience of a people, who, though 
hopelessly corrupt, yet retained some knowledge of 
the true and good. What could be expected of a 
people who built a temple consecrated to the worship 
of a female divinity in which a host of abandoned 
females were kept as a part of the religious establish- 
ment?®) What can be thought of a people who 
dared not utter aloud the prayers which they whispered 
in the ears of such gods and goddesses as these?™ The 


morals of the gods were attrocious; what else could 


the morals of the people be? Licentiousness was a. 


part of their worship. Indecent songs and symbols 
attended their religious festivals. The closed room 
of the museum at Naples, to which reference has been 
made, contains certain votive offerings of clay and 
marble, and even of bronze, which may not even be 
described in these pages. So early as the year 189 
B. C., after the Bacchanalian orgies had been trans- 
ferred to Rome, 7,000 persons united in observing them 
at one time, and the consuls were obliged to suppress 
(34) Fisher, 108. ; (35) De Pressense, 434. 


— 


ee 


RELIGIOUS 429 


the ceremonies inasmuch as they involved not only 
gross debauchery but murder and other crimes of 
violence as well.“ Livy mentions the case of a certain 
pretor who condemned to death in one year 3,000 
poisoners whose crimes were the outgrowth of their 
religion. Men became murderers and robbers in con- 
sequence of religious principles; and thus upon all 
hands the tide of religious corruption swelled the tide 
of moral corruption which beat against and overturned 
the barriers of social order and domestic purity. 

This is a gloomy picture, but it has been impossible 
to paint it in the colors which really belong to it. It 
would be an offense to make quotations from either 
Christian or heathen writers which should suitably 
depict the condition of the age. We must leave it to 
the reader to attempt to conceive of a state of things 
as foul and unnatural as it is possible for him to 
imagine, and even then, he who has spent this life in a 
Christian country will not so much as approach the 
truth. Those only who have seen life as it is exhib- 
ited in heathen countries of to-day can adequately 
picture to themselves the horrible extent of moral 
corruption which existed in the Roman empire in the 
age in which the Redeemer appeared. It may all be 
summed up in the words of its own writers. Seneca 
says: 

“ All things are full of iniquity and vice. More crimes are 
committed than can be remedied by force. A monstrous con- 
test of wickedness is carried on. Daily the lust of sin increases, 
daily the sense of shame diminishes. Casting away all regard 


for what is good and honorable, pleasure runs riot without 
restraint. Vice no longer hides itself. It stalks forth before 


(36) Merivale, xxii. 


430 THE WORLD LYING IN WICKEDNESS. 


the eyes. So public has iniquity become, so mightily docs it 
flame up in all hearts, that innocence is no longer rare; zt has 
ceased to exist.” 


Lucian exclaims: 

“If any one loves wealth and is dazed by gold; if any one 
measures happiness by purple and power; if any one brought 
up among flatterers and slaves has never had a conception of 
liberty and truth; if any one has wholly surrendered himself to 
pleasures, full tables, carousels, lewdness, sorcery, falsehood and 
deceit, let him go to Rome.” 

Surely the apostle Paul was not misled when he 
characterized the people.of the age ina single sentence: 


‘Foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and 
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one 
another.” 

Into such a gulf of depravity has the world been 
brought. It has no power to help itself. If it is ever 
to be redeemed its redemption must come from above. 
The need of a great deliverer has become sadly and 
certainly apparent. Surely the great deliverer will soon 
be manifested. @ 


(37) In connection with the entire chapter see Lanciani’s Amctent 
Rome, and Pagan and Christian Rome. 


CHAPTER XV. 
eee PULENESS OF “LIME? 


The Apostle Paul says, writing to the Galatians, 
2 ‘When the fullness of the time was come God sent 
forth his Son.” While this expression is not else- 
where repeated in exactly the same form the thought 
which it contains is frequently expressed in the New 
Testament. The prophecies of the Old Testament had 
themselves indicated that the Redeemer would appear 
MimethieemoOst, suitable juncture in the history of the 
world. ‘The writers of the New Testament declare 
that this fitting juncture occurred at the precise 
moment when Jesus was laid in the manger. “ All 
things were ready ” for the proclamation of the Gospel 


when Jesus himself actively entered upon his work, and 
he himself began his work with an announcement simi- 
lar to that which the Apostle afterwards employed. 
He came into Galilee, as Mark informs us, ‘‘ Preaching 
the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The 
time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.” 
We shall observe in the present chapter the justifica- 
tion of such expressions in the peculiar circumstances 
of the age in which Christ appeared. We have already 
traced the history of the preparation of the world for 
his coming, and observed as our studies progressed, 
the increasing need of a deliverer and the increasing 
prospect of his appearance. If nothing else were to be 
(1) Gal. iv: 4. | (2) Mark, i:15. 


432 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME” 


added we should conclude that the deliverer appeared 


at the opportune hour. But we are now to observe. 


certain particular additional features from which we 


judge that the Redeemer came at just the right — 


moment, and are therefore bound to draw certain 
conclusions with regard to the carefui providence 
of God. In these particular features there appears 
a sort of crisis in the history of the world, in which 
crisis it would seem that the Redeemer must come, if 
he is ever to come, inasmuch as it is not likely that 
such a juncture of circumstances, so favorable to his 
coming, shall ever again occur in the history of the 
world; and looking back upon that time from our pres- 
ent standpoint we can certainly say that no such junc- 
ture has occurred up to our own day. 

It might not be possible for us to locate the very 
hour or even the very year in which the Redeemer 
must appear, except as we are guided by the Scripture; 
but even without the Scripture, we should be able to 
locate the opportune time within the limits of a single 
generation, as indeed it was located by those who had 
no such understanding of the prophecies of the Scrip- 
tures as ourselves, namely; the Jews of that age and 
the Gentiles of the same age as well. 

What are the features to which we refer? 


THE VE WaLNe HISTOR 


Before answering this question it will be well for us 
to recall the particular features connected with other 
significant junctures in the history of the world, in 
which, as we have seen, the Almighty intervened with 
some new dispensation or some additional revelation 


HE Fw IN ATSTORTY. 433 


of his truth. Such were the following: The occasion 
of the Chaldean ascendency; the culmination of 
Egyptian power; the golden age of Babylonia; and 
following these, similar periods in the history of the 
Persian, the Macedonian and the Roman Empires. It 
is a most remarkable fact that in every such juncture 
the Jew was present—using the word “ Jew ”’ as descrip- 
tive of the people of Israel during their entire history. 
When Chedorlaomer the first great Oriental conqueror 
extended his campaigns to the west, he was con- 
fronted and humiliated by Abraham the father of the 
Jewish Nation. When Rameses the Great came to 
the throne he found the Jew in Egypt, and his son and 
successor was confronted by Moses. Asshurbanipal, the 
Assyrian, came in contact with the Jew as represented 
in the northern kingdom of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar 
the Babylonian was the instrument in the hand of God 
whereby the Jew was to be cured of his idolatry. Cyrus 
the Great, founder of the Persian monarchy, issued the 
edict for his return from captivity. Alexander the 
Great, the Macedonian conqueror, treated the Jew with 
distinguished consideration, and marks the initial point 
in his intellectual transformation; and Julius Cesar, 
the founder of the Roman Empire, comes into friendly 
contact with him again and again. 

The great movements of mankind, therefore, seem 
‘to be always intimately connected with the people of 
God. The Jew outlives his conqueror; the Jewish 
nation survives the nations which brought it into sub- 
jection; and from secular history alone we should be 
bound to conclude that God had some mighty purpose 
in connection with the people which has had so singu- 


434 HTHL FULLNESS YOR Tine 


larahistory. We recall therefore the old text recorded 
more than fourteen hundred and fifty years before the 
birth of Christ and with which we introduced ourstudies: 
‘“When the Most High divided to the nations their 
inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he 
set the bounds of the people according to the number 
of children of Israel.”’®) 

We have already seen that this strange contact of 
Israel with the dominant races of the earth has always 
had some clear connection with the coming of the 
Saviour, either in the preservation, purification or unifi- 
cation of the chosen seed through whom Christ should 
come; or in the preparation of the heathen world for 
his reception in the day of his appearance, and it isa 
most significant fact that the historical student of the 
present age 1s most absorbed with those periods in the 
lite of the great empires at which they touched the - 
history of God’s own people. 

In these junctures of providential history we observe 
certain common features, such as the culmination of 
political power, the culmination of idolatrous worship, 
and the culmination of immoral practices, and we have 
observed the same in connection with the age in which 
Christ appeared; but in a degree surpassing that which 
had been exhibited at any previous period. In the 
recurrence of these common features, and especially in 
their more intense manifestation, we should be led to 
expect some such intervention of divine providence 
as occurred upon like preceding occasions. But in 
addition to these common features there are other 
special features in which the fullness of time more par- 


(3) Deut. xxxii:8, 9. 


EXTENT OF FEWISH DISPERSION. 435 


ticularly appears. These features are both positive 
and negative. 

ist, Posztive. At the time of the Saviour’s coming 
the Jew was not only at the center, as he had been upon 
previous occasions, but he was everywhere. “Vhe Jewish 
people had been scattered abroad over the whole earth, 
and wherever they appeared it was as witnesses to the 
truth of God and to the hope of Israel. 


Peel ENT OF EWISH DISPERSION, 


Among those who gathered upon the day of Pente- 
cost at Jerusalem, the author of the Book of Acts in- 
forms us, were ‘‘Jews out of every nation under heaven,” 
and he gives the long list of nationalities represented 
by that remarkable gathering: ‘‘ Parthians, and Medes 
and Elamites and dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Juda 
and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and 
Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about 
Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and Proselytes, 


Cretes and Arabians.’ 


Nor is the description of 
this writer an extravagant one. Josephus says that 
‘there is no country on earth where the Jews are not 
a part of the population.” The geographer Strabo 
says, “Already a Jewish population has entered 
every city, and it is not easy to find a place in the 
habitable world which has not received this race and 
is not possessed by them.” ‘hey were very strongly 
represented in the countries into which they had been 
carried captive, Babylonia and Assyria. We have 
seen that they were very numerous in Egypt where 
they constituted more than one-eighth of the entire 


(4) Acts i1:g-II. 


436 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


population, and where they had spread in great num- 
bers as far west as the city of Cyrene. They had spread 
from Northern Syria into Asia Minor and had thence 
crossed over into Europe. They were found in Crete 
and Cyprus and in other islands of the Mediterranean. 
Large colonies of them lived in Macedonia and Greece, 
in such cities as Athens, Corinth and Phillippi. They 
had gone still further west in great numbers and settled 
throughout Italy. Puteoli had a large Jewish popula- 
tion. It is now definitely established that they had 
seven synagogues in Rome. They were found in Gaul, 


2d 


and penetrated even to Spain and Britain. Over this 

vast extent of territory, reaching from the River Indus 

on the east to the Pillars of Hercules on the west, and 

from the River Thames on the north to the African 

desert upon the south, these representatives of the, 
religion of the Jehovah and of the hope of redemption | 
were to be found.© 


JEWISH EXPECTATION. 


But these Jews had been taught loyalty to Jehovah, | 
and so, although scattered among all nations, they were | 
not corrupted by their idolatries. They still continued 9 
to hold to their common creed, their common center 
and their common hope. In every place where there 
were ten male householders who had leisure to give 
themselves to regular attendance, they established their 
synagogue, and where there was no synagogue, there 
was at least a regular meeting-place under the open | 
sky, generally outside the town and near to some river 
or lake, whose waters might be used jn their purifica- 


(5) Merivale, ch. xxix. (6) Edersheim’s Messiah, I, 75. 


FEWISH EXPECTATION. 434 


tions. And the Jew was regarded as a stranger and 
sojourner in every land wherein he dwelt, even although 
he knew that his whole life was to be passed therein. 
His home was the Land of Canaan; the common cen- 
ter of the dispersed of Israel was Jerusalem the City of 
God. The Jew both of the East and of the West, 
joined in fervent exclamation, “If I forget thee, O 
Jerusalem! let my right hand forget her cunning.” 
This was not merely a matter of patriotism; it was a 
religious principle, the foundation of a great spiritual 
hope. In Jerusalem alone men could truly worship, 
and therefore the pious few in every land turned 
toward the Holy City as he offered his prayer to God. 
_ From every synagogue the temple tribute was sent up 
to Jerusalem often accompanied by liberal voluntary 
offerings. Those who could command the means 
undertook at some time, and in many cases repeatedly, 
a pilgrimage to the city of their God. 

As the years passed on, those hopes of the Jews which 
centered in Jerusalem became the more intense. ‘This, 
not merely because of their increasing faith in the 
coming of the Messiah; but also because the coming 
of the Messiah meant to them the restoration of Jewish 
dominion and a return of the dispersed Israelites to 
their own land. Every devout Jew was accustomed 
to pray day by day for the gathering together of the 
dispersed at the call of the Messiah. In the Talmud, 
Israel is likened to the olive-tree which is never stripped 
of its leaves. The storm of trial sweeps over it not to 
blast it, but to purify it; and thus Israel’s persecutions 
had served to keep them from being mixed with the 
Gentiles that they might not be destroyed. The day 


438 “THE FULLNESS OF. TIME.” 


would come when they should all be brought back and 
not a single Israelite be missing. ‘The nations would 
conspire to honor them, and the bounds of their own 
land would be extended until they embraced all 
the territory which had been originally promised to 
Abraham. It was in the view of such expectations 
as these that the Apostles frequently questioned 
the Saviour as they did even after his resurrection: 
‘Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to 
Israel] ??™ 

In the generation preceding tHe Saviour’s birth 
these hopes and expectations became fully ripe. The 
Jew believed that at any moment the glad tidings 
might be announced that the Messiah had come. He 
believed that the signs of his advent had already 
appeared, and that the Messiah might be even now in 
the land, ready to manifest himself so soon as Israel 
should repent and thus prepare the way for his appear- 
ance. At any hour his banner might be unfurled upon 
the top of some mountain and his trumpet sound to 
call his people to his side. Again and again they asked 
themselves ‘‘ Why does he delay his coming?” ‘The 
painful question is again and again discussed by the 
Rabbis. And the usual answer is, ‘‘ Because Israel 
does not repent of her sins.” At the same time, how- 
ever, the pious Jew did not believe that his coming 
would be indefinitely delayed on this account. It was 
the final opinion among the Rabbis that the time of the 
Messiah’s coming depended upon the simple mercy of 
God, and that when the set time to favor Zion should 
arrive, the Messiah would appear; that his coming 

(“) Acts 1:6, 


FTEWISH EXPECTATION. 
¥ : 439 


would not then be retarded by the moral condition of 

his people. 

_ Insuch a state of mind they waited for him, and in 
such a state of mind they were found when he actually 

appeared. The calculations which they had made, 


founded upon the Old Testament prophecies, had gen- ~ 


erally fixed the time of his appearing within the limits 
of the very generation in which he was born.©) To 
such expectations is to be assigned those manifestations 
of enthusiasm such as’ were displayed by the Zealots, 
that fanatical band of nationalists who attempted to 
revive the old Maccabean spirit and deliver the people 
of God from foreign domination; out of which had 
arisen certain false messiahs of whom Judas of Galilee 
(A. D.11) was most conspicuous. Such persons could 
scarcely have secured a following in any other age, and 
the fanaticism which they manifested was due to the 
fervency of their hope and their confident expectation 
of the speedy appearance of the true Messiah. 

The condition of Jewish expectation is very strikingly 
exhibited in the single fact that at this juncture and 
in consequence of these expectations the population of 
Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish hope and the focus 
of Jewish influence, amounted according to Josephus, 
upon the occasion of their great festivals, to the enor- 
mous number of three millions of souls. With all the 
false views of the Jewish Rabbis, their false interpretation 
of Scripture, and the fanciful or secular theories which 
they had adopted in connection with the prophecies 
of the Old Testament, it is nevertheless apparent from 
these facts, taken in connection with that which we 


(8) Life of Christ ; Geike, ch. vi. “Edersheim, I, 82,170. 4 


440 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


have already observed in preceding chapters, that the 
Jewish world at this particular juncture was ready for | 
the manifestation of the Messiah and that the fullness of | 


time had come. 


JEWISH INFLUENCE: HEATHEN MONOTHEISM. 


But the Jews, in consequence of their world-wide dis- 
persion and the size and importance of their colonies,were 
now exercising a greater influence over their heathen 
neighbors than they had ever before exerted. We have 
observed how the best religious thought of the heathen 
world had moved through a great orbit, in the course 
of which, starting from primitive monotheism, it had 
passed through naturism to polytheism and _ thence 
returned to monotheism again. But its course had 
been a spiral rather than a circle, and the movement 
had from the first been both a returning and a descend- 
ing one; so that while it had inclined to the same 
quarter it had reached a very much lower point than 
that from which it had originally started. It had 
passed through the different phases of religious belief 
to that condition which we have already observed, in 
which the very multiplicity of its gods had insured the 
destruction of all of them together, and the excess of 
religious forms had brought about general skepticism 
and despair. At this juncture, which occurred in final 
form in the very age in which Christ appeared, the 
best minds of heathenism had substituted for the faith | 
in the old religion a kind of monotheism, which was | 
abstract and indefinite, philosophical in its tenets and 
cowardly in its utterances. The attempt had been 
earnestly made to so apprehend the popular religion 


FEWISH INFLUENCE: HEA THEN MONOTHEIS M. A441 


as to reduce polytheism to a higher unity which was 
believed to lie at its root. As the reason, in the course 
of its speculations, was obliged to recognize this orig- 
inal unity as a fundamental necessity, polytheism either 
proceeded out of it, or must be reduced back to it—the 
gods must be derived from one original. Thus Plato 
had derived all existence from One “who is hard to 
find, and whom, when found, it is impossible to make 
known to all.” The effort was made to rescue faith 
from the total wreck which seemed to threaten it. The 
philosophers held to one divine primal essence, which 
they could scarcely distinguish from the world. Its 
worship appeared to them to be the first truth upon 
which every subsequent fabric of superstition had been 
erected. Varro declared that the only true thing in 
religion was the idea of a rational ‘“‘ Soul of the world,” 
by which all things were moved and governed. He 
traced the origin of Roman superstition to the intro- 
duction of idols, and lamented their use. So Strabo also 
believed, describing Moses asa great reformer in that he 
opposed image-worship and established religious forms 
of a spiritual character. Yet he says, ‘“‘ This one Supreme 
Essence is what embraces us all—water and land; the 
heavens, the world and the nature of things.” So also 
the elder Pliny, who, absorbed in the contemplation of 
nature, attempts to adore an infinite creative spirit, 
which manifests itself in its works. ‘The chasm, how- 
ever, between this Creator and its creatures he confesses 
he is unable to bridge. These theories were not held 
simply by a narrow and select circle. They were 
widely disseminated. Their apostles journeyed as far 
as the very apostles of the Lord, and, in the same age 


442 “THE FULLNESS OF -TIMEM 


as they, circulated their opinions with a zeal often char- 
acterized by fanaticism and associated with pretended 
supernatural powers. The whole Roman world looked — 
upon their gods with suspicion or explained away their 
separate personality and listened with avidity to such 
as proclaimed that there was somewhere One whom 
they knew not and perhaps could not know; but con- 
cerning whom it was at least their duty and privilege 
to enquire.“’ By means of this monotheism, therefore, 
providence had prepared the way for a total renuncia- | 
tion of heathenism and the adoption of the belief in one 
living and true God which the Jew was ready to impart 
to his bewildered fellows. The heathen among whom 
these Jews dwelt in great numbers were rapidly made 
acquainted with their religious practices. The syna- 
gogue was open to them if they cared to attend its 
services, and the Jew, especially the Grecian Jew, had 
abandoned that cold and narrow exclusiveness which 
had formerly characterized him, and had now become 
anxious to bring the Gentile to the knowledge of the 
truth—so much so that the Saviour himself described 
even the Jew of Palestine as ‘‘ compassing sea and land 
to make one proselyte.’" 


PROSEEY TES: 

In consequence of this state of thought proselytes 
had rapidly multiplied in the generation immediately ~ 
preceding the birth of Christ. Numerous persons, 
many of them of the cultivated classes, turned with 
derision from the heathen religions to embrace the 
Jewish doctrines. Women in particular showed a 


(9) See the Introduction to Neander’s Church F{istory. 
C0=Matthew, xxniers. 


eee, 


PROSELT. TES: 443 


decided inclination to the Jewish faith. Edicts against 
the Jews were kept secret by the rulers lest the women 
should betray them. Thus the synagogues were 
largely composed of proselytes.“™ There were three ' 
distinct classes of them. 

First; those who submitted to circumcision, and 
became incorporated with the Jewish people, who were 
called ‘‘Proselytes of Righteousness.” The number 
of these was comparatively small. 

Second, a class known as “Proselyles of the Gate.” 
This class were not bound by circumcision and did not 
observe the special laws of the Mosaic code; but they 


jrenounced idolatry and worshipped Jehovah; they 
|abstained from things strangled and from blood; and 


in other ways, similar to these, adhered to the Jewish 
community and shared in its faith. 

Third; a class who were not, strictly speaking, 
proselytes, but who are known by a term usually ap- 
plied to them in the New Testament as ‘devout fer- 
sons.” These favored the worship of Jehovah, and 
endeavored to some extent to cultivate the morality of 
the Jewish religion. 

In the increasing numbers of these proselytes, who » 
were found wherever the Jews themselves were found, 
is recognized one of the peculiar features of the fullness 
of time. Ina multitude of cities throughout the world 
they were ready to furnish a community in which 
Christian truth might find a lodgment and the Chris- 
tian Church be organized. 


HEATHEN HOPES. 


Still further, and apart from the special influence 
(41) Mommsen’s Provinces , Book VIII, ch. x1. 


444 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME” 


which the Jewish people were now exercising, there 
was a general influence of the Jewish faith which found 
expression in the hopes of thoughtful heathen, which 
while they may not be distinctly traceable to Jewish 
sources, Were unquestionably inspired thereby. (At at 
this very juncture the heathen themselves were looking | 

for a deliverer, and by many it was supposed that this | 

deliverer should appear among the Jewish people.) The 
eyes of Greece and Rome were turned toward the East. 
(he cycle of the ages was said to be completed; and 
the Golden Age of the world was expected to return. 
Suetonius and Tacitus both report a widespread ru- 
mor that the East should become powerful and the 
dominion of the world be assigned by fate to the Jews; 
and the Roman legions which Titus led against Jerusa- 
lem, looked upon the Holy City with a certain super- 
stitious awe, some of them even deserting, because 
they expected some extraordinary divine aid to be 


™) The fourth eclogue of Virgil, which 


SIVENNLO it. 
was written in the very generation which preceded the 
coming of the Saviour, also reflects the expectation of 
the heathen. The poet celebrates a child who shall 
_restore the Golden Age, in pictures which must have - 
been derived, either directly or indirectly, from the ninth 
and eleventh chapters of the prophecy of Isaiah. The 
best authorities consider that Virgil could not have 
had in mind a son of Pollio, or any other person of his 
own age, as fulfilling his expectation; but adapted the 
predictions of the inspired prophet to express the hopes 
of his own countrymen.) 


(12) Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism ; 8o. 
(13) See Merivale, ch. xxvii. 


1 ae a ON OS Bs 445 


Such, then, were the hopes of both Jew and Gentile, 
and such the readiness for the reception of the Messiah, 
and all this culminating in the very generation in which 
Jesus was born. The very temple of God at Jerusa- 
lem, where services were conducted in Hebrew, yet 
placarded certain announcements in Greek and Latin— 
a sufficient indication of the concentration of the eyes 
of the world upon that sacred enclosure. ‘The condi- 
tion of the world finds its embodiment and complete 
expression in a single person afterwards chosen as the 
Apostle to the Gentiles—Saul of Tarsus: A Jew by 
birth, a Greek by education, and a Roman citizen by 
inheritance; a participant in all the hopes of Israel, a 
student of the literature of Athens, a subject of the 
privileges of Rome—he illustrates the completion of 
the preparation which in the providence of God had 
been made for the introduction of the Gospel. 

But while Paul may have been the most suitable 
man of his age for the work to which he was called of 
God, it must not be forgotten that there were many 
others who had received a like training and who 
enjoyed the same privileges. The Scripture is indeed 
full of references to the men of peculiar character and 
attainments which the age had produced, and to their 
peculiar hopes and aspirations. Apollos, the great 
orator of the apostolic age, and who, in some of the 
places in which he labored, divided the honors with 
Paul himself, had received an education not unlike 
that of the great apostle. He was a Jew by birth and 
had an intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures; but 
he was born at Alexandria, the great center of Grecian- 
ism, and had traveled extensively through the Roman 


440 “KHTOLVIOLLNASS OF sie. 


world. ‘The character of the age is also illustrated in 
a number of minor characters to whom we are intro- 
duced in the New Testament; the Greeks who came 
up to worship at the Feast of the Passover and who 


desired to see Jesus; the Roman centurion who built a ~ 
synagogue at Capernaum; Cornelius a member of a 


very distinguished family and the pious captain of the 
Italian Band at Ceesarea; and the Ethiopian eunuch who 
came up to Jerusalem to worship. Indeed, both the 
Saviour’s birth and the Saviour’s death are associated 
with incidents which minutely reflect the character of 
the age, and illustrate the fullness of time. While 
Jesus lay in the manger at Bethlehem the Wise Men 
came from the East inquiring for him ‘ who was born 
King of the Jews,’ and when his work was finished 
and his “hour had come,” he was betrayed by the 
sons of Shem into the hands of the sons of Japheth; 


\ 


but his ponderous cross was borne to the summit of # 


Golgotha upon the stalwart shoulders of Simon the ' 


Cyrenian, who, if not a son of Ham, at least repre- 


sented the continent to which the children of Ham had 
been assigned. And finally when the Saviour of the 
world hung upon the cross in mortal agony, the inscrip- 
tion placed above his head and intended to define the 
crime for which he suffered, ‘‘ was written in Hebrew 
and Greek and Latin.”“ Thus had the Hebrew, the 
Greek and the Roman involuntarily displayed the 
exact adaptation of the crucifixion to the hour, and 
demonstrated the fullness of time. | 

2d, Megative: Some of the negative features of the 


(14) Matt. ii: 1, 2. . 
(15) Conybeare and Howson; Vol.I, ch.i, Title. John, xix:20. 


THE DEIFICATION OF .THE EMPEROR. 447 


fullness of time have been already set forth in the pre- 
vious chapters; but we have reserved for the present 
one, the consideration of their culmination in a certain 
form of idolatry and immorality, in which the iniquitous 
unbelief of the heathen world reached its final ex- 
pression. 


ale UEIRICA LIONS OF Lik EMPEROR: 


The climax of all iniquity was reached in the deifi- 
cation of the emperor. Divine honors have often been 
paid to kings and others of conspicuous station; but 
the form which this idolatry assumed under the Cesars 
was peculiar, and deserves close examination. Its 
special development began and was completed under 
Augustus, and in consonance with his own well defined 
plan. 

In the defeat of Antonius at the battle of Actium, 
Octavius became the master of the world. He was 
still a young man, only 32 years of age. His dazzling 
success had turned the heads of the Roman people, 
from the humblest commoner to the highest patrician, 
while his own head, if it were itself turned, still 
manifested the subtle composure for which the heir of 
Julius Cesar had been distinguished from his youth. 
There can be no doubt that he was meditating the 
complete subjugation of the entire Roman world to 
himself, and the consolidation of all its offices in his 
own person; but he succeeded in restraining the mani- 
festations of his personal ambition, and thereby contrib- 
uted to the sure and speedy accomplishment of its 
object. The Romans, wearied to death with the devas- 
tating wars of rival factions, were ready to welcome 


448 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


a dictatorship, especially if its incumbent manifested 
the moderation which had been long displayed in 
the career of Octavius. It therefore came about 
that before his return to Rome they lavished their 
honors upon him, and courier after courier was dis- 
patched by the Senate, bearing to him the successive 
decrees which it had passed with enthusiastic acclama- 
tion. He was permitted on all occasions to wear his 
triumphal insignia—-the scarlet mantel and laurel crown; 
a quinquennial festival was instituted in his honor; his 
birthday was to be commemorated with religious rites, 
and the priests were ordered to add his name to the 
sacred formula in which they besought the safety of 
the city. These were only a portion of the honors 
which were showered upon him, by which the way was 
being prepared for his exaltation.“ Octavius was 
wise enough to remain away from Rome while his” 
friends were thus surrounding his name with this gla- 
mour, and shrewd enough to return at the very moment 
when the initial stage of the popular enthusiasm had 
reached its height, and his personal presence was neces- 
sary to advance it another degree. 

In the year 29 B. C., two years after the battle of 
Actium, he appeared in Rome. He was accorded a 
triple triumph of the utmost magnificence; and at its 
close he proceeded at once to perform such ceremonies 
as should betray in his own shrewd and subtle way his 
devotion to the gods and his assimilation with them. 
He sacrificed to Jupiter of the Capitol; he dedicated a 
temple to Minerva; he opened the basilica of Julius 
Cesar with imposing ceremonies, placed therein a 


(16) Merivale, xxx. 


LHE DEIFICATION OF THE EMPEROR. 4409 


statue of the goddess Victory, and ¢edicated the shrine 
of Julius on the spot where his body had been burned 
to its ashes. This was but a beginning of a systematic 
work, in the prosecution of which he restored many of 
the temples of the divinities and erected others, enriching 
all with the spoils of his conquests. He was playing a 
deep game in which he plotted to capture the people 
throvgh their holiest sentiments; and the people, alas! 
whose holiest sentiments were now sadly despoiled and 
almost exterminated, were taken captive unawares. 
Octavius was already himself their idol; he would 
soon become their god. Already they regarded him as 
the source of their prosperity and the surety of their 
peace; it would be a very natural process by which 
they should come to regard him as invested with the 
very attributes of deity. 

In this attitude of the Roman people it was no shock 
to their sensibilities when they learned that Octavius 
had permitted the people of Nicza and Ephesus to 
erect temples to the joint worship of Rome and Julius 
Cesar. They were actually flattered by his restric- 
tion of his own worship to his eastern subjects; and 
so the work of corruption went on.“ 

In the same year the conqueror entered into a 
pretended deliberation of his relinquishment of the 
supreme power. It ended, however, according to his 
own well-concealed design, and he accepted with 
feigned reluctance the honor which his friends thrust 
upon him, becoming perpetual /mferator. He was 
now, by no act of his own, the military master 
of Rome and of the world, and Rome and the world 


(17) Momsen’s Provinces, Book VIII, ch. viii. 


450 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME? 


acknowledged it. Other offices of distinction were 
soon added. He accepted the powers of the Censor- 
ship, while he declined the specific title attached 
to them. A year later (B. C. 28) he was appointed 
Princeps Senatus, or Prince of the Senate; in which 
position he enjoyed the privilege of speaking first on 
any question proposed, and thus united the most 
important civil power with the chief military office. 
He celebrated his advancement with the display of 
utmost liberality. He increased the portions of grain 
bestowed upon the people, he elevated many persons 
from common to noble rank, and thus made himself 
appear as the fountain of honors, advancement and 
wealth. 

Octavius now sought for some single title in which 
might be expressed by a single word the sum of the 
honors which he enjoyed and the offices which he filled. 
It must be a new title, such as had been borne by no 
one before him; but such as should express both his 
own estimate of himself and that of the admiring 
populace. At last he fixed upon the epithet ‘4 wgus- 
tus,” a word which had never been applied to any- 
thing but the most sacred objects, such as the altars 
of the gods and the ceremonies of religion. This illus- 
trious title was bestowed upon him in January, B. C., 
27,in his thirty-fifth year. It was the first decided 
step in his deification, for which all that preceded was 
the logical preparation. 

In suggesting it, he himself, and in awarding it, the | 
Roman people indicated the hopelessness of their 
departure from God. They had just declared the 
deification of Julius Casar—the first apotheosis stnce 


THE DEIFICATION OF THE EMPEROR. 451 


that of Romulus. Note this fact; but meanwhile be 
very careful to observe that transpiring, as it did at 
this particular juncture, z#s whole stgnificance ts con- 
nected with Augustus rather than with his predecessor. 
It was the initial act in his own deification. The peo- 
ple were prepared for this by the provincial worship 
of Julius. They themselves now worshipped at his 
shrine; and Augustus was his heir! After this the 
movement was easy and rapid. 

Following the decree which gave him his title, 
Augustus left Rome upon a tour of the provinces. On his 
return ‘the progression from his substantial to his actual 
deification was continued. In B. C. 23, his countrymen 
conferred upon him the Potestas Tribunitia, by which 
he became the acknowledged chief of the people as he 
already was chief of the Senate. From early days the 
persons of the tribunes were considered sacred, and to 
offer one of them violence was a capital crime. This 
inviolability was now transferred to the emperor, and 
while it increased his power over the people, it con- 
tributed also to the veneration with which they 
regarded him, and promoted that adulation which was 
fast ripening into positive adoration. In the same year 
he accepted the Pofestas Consularts, or consular pow- 
er, for life. The senate decreed that he should occupy 
a seat between the two actual consuls at all assemblies, 
their equal in office, but their superior in honor; and 
thus much more than a Drzmus enter pares; rather the 
supreme magistrate of the city, 

Augustus was now the acknowledged head of every 
department of the state but one. It only remained for 
him to become high priest and all earthly power 


452 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


would be in his hands. In the year 12 B. C., his aged 


colleague, Lepidus, died; and the office of Pontifex ~ 


Maximus, which he had held, became vacant. Augus- 
tus might easily have possessed himself of it before the 
death of Lepidus, but his shrewd moderation was again 
displayed in his aspirations for the honor, and as usual 


only rendered the honor the more certain. The office » 


was at once bestowed upon him, and thus the control | 


of all religious matters passed into his hands. His 
power was now complete. He ruled the whole circle 
of life and controlled its cvery element throughout the 
extensive dominions o: a mighty empire. At last he 
had reached the goal which he had set before himself 
in his youth. He had attained it by a consistent prose- 
cution of the systematic plan which he had adopted 


when he returned from the East in triumph, after the 


defeat of Antonius, and set himself to the task of cap- 
tivating and conquering the people through their relig- 
ious sentiments. He aimed from the first to secure not 
only their allegiance but their adoration. He believed 
in his own divinity, and he determined that the Roman 
world should believe in it also. He would rule that 
Roman world through their devotions. So mounting 
upon the foundation of military, civil and judicial 
offices, impressing upon each the form of his own pre- 
tended piety, he reached at last the summit of a high- 
priesthood which was at once martial, magisterial, 
judicial, imperial—a high-priesthood such as no man 
had ever filled before; the glittering embodiment of 
human imbecility upon the one hand, as the royal high- 
priesthood of Christ is the glorious embodiment of 
divine wisdom on the other. 


“ 


EXTENT AND SIGNIFICANCE, 453 


There was now no hindrance to the practical deifi- 
cation of the emperor. It had already been suggested 
in connection with the apotheosis of Julius Cesar that 
Augustus himself enjoyed an effuence from the deity ;° 
but now the opinions of his subjects took other shapes 
than those of mere suggestion. Altars were raised to 
him; and in the provinces temples were erected and 
societies organized to promote his worship.“ The 
abominable blasphemy invaded even the Holy Land 
itself; and the City of Samaria, for many generations 
the rival of Jerusalem, became its rival ina deeper and 
more desperate sense, by containing a temple built for 
the worship of Augustus.°” 

At last inthe year 14 A. D., this “ August” Emperor 
passed away and the senate decreed what they might 
long ago have enacted but for the characteristic shrewd- 
ness of that singularly shrewd man, who cared little 
for the form so long as he enjoyed the substance—the 
senate decreed his absolute deity. 


EXTENT AND SIGNIFICANCE, 


Such then was the crowning iniquity of the Roman 
world, the final form of heathenism. The blasphemy 
which had been committed many times before in his- 
tory, in the divine honors paid to princes, was now 
committed in a peculiarly formal and emphatic way. 
It furnished a suitable climax to the progressive deter- 
ioration of the religion of the Roman Empire and was 
its natural conclusion. It was simply the logical out- 
come of that degradation of the gods and disbelief in 


(18) Encycl. Britt,, “Augustus.” 
(19) Merivale; xxxiv; xxxvl; xXxXxXIXx. 


(20) Life of Christ, Geike, ch. iv. 


454 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


ther which had been brought about by their multipli- 
cation, together with the exaltation of man which had 
been promoted by the extending conquests of Rome 
and the increasing power of those who had achieved 


them. The Roman ruler had been glorified; the — 


Roman gods abased—that is all of it. Some who lived 
near enough to the emperor to know his frailties sneered 
at his lofty pretensions and ridiculed the decrees which 
translated him to the skies; but the vast majority of 
the teeming millions of the Empire received their new 
god with cordial approbation and rendered him sincere 


service. In doing so they honored the power which | 


had given peace to the world and to which they owed 
the security of their persons and possessions. They 
became zealous in their worship of the divinity of the 
emperor in just the proportion that they became pros- 
perous under his protection. Moreover the imperial 
worship supplied a state religion to the whole empire 
and displaced the rites which were purely local or 


relegated them to the background. The statues of the. 


emperors became more conspicuous and were more 


reverenced than those of the tribal gods; and the 


imperial priests exceeded all others in number. Even 
in the ancient seats of worship in worshipful Greece 
itself, were placed the images of the emperor. Their 
temples arose even in Delphi and Corinth; and the 
Olympian Zeus divided the honors in his own temple 
with the Roman Emperor. ® 

Such was the extent of this new idolatry; what was 
its significance? It meant that the whole world had 
given itself up to the worship of a mere man. It 

(21) Conflict of Christianity with Heathentsm » Ullhorn, Book I, ch. tr. 


EXTENT AND SIGNIFICANCE. 455 


meant a radical and universal inversion of truth and 
holiness. God was dethroned; man was enthroned. 
“They changed the truth of God into a lie, and wor- 
shipped and served the creature rather than the Crea- 
tor, who is blessed forever. Amen.” 

If then we remember the character of the times in 
which Almighty God had before appeared to intervene 
in behalf of his people and his truth; to reconstruct 
society, and to introduce a new and better era, we can- 
not resist the conclusion that the same elements of 
immorality and idolatry which characterized those 
times have now appeared in more terrible form than 
ever before, and the world is again ripe for intervention. 

But still more. This deification of the emperor must 
be considered, as in the present chapter, in connection 
with the dispersion of the people of God. ‘The nega- 
tive and the positive must be joined in a single 
view of this particular juncture. he worship of the 
emperor had a distant connection with the expectation 
and faith of Israel, and the ensuing conflict gave char- 
acter to the age. However tolerant the Romans may 
have been in other religious matters there could be no 
concession in this. The time had come when no com- 
promise could possibly be effected between those who 
worshipped the creature and those who worshipped 
the Creator. The people of God could not be com- 
pelled even by Roman law to worship any of the older 
divinities of Rome, but the law of the Empire impera- 
tively demanded the adoration of its head. ‘here was 
no escape for him who refused, inasmuch as a refusal 
implied both disloyalty and impiety, each in the highest 


(22)Rom. iv: 4. 


456 “THE FULLNESS OF TIME.” 


degree. Although the full severity of these regu- 
lations did not appear until after the death of Christ, 
yet the principle which controlled them was definitely 
inaugurated when Octavius assumed the title of Augus- 
tus. From this must be dated the beginning of the 
final conflict. It is a repetition of the crisis in which 
Pharaoh exclaims “‘ Who is Jehovah that I should obey 
his voice?” in which Nebuchadnezzar sets up his 
golden image and commands its universal veneration. 
But this is the final crisis; that of which the preceding 
were but prophecies. In the providence of God the 
unification of the world has been accomplished for this 
very purpose. Its separate nations have been brought 
under a single government, that government is in the 
hands of a single man and that man has assumed a 
divine title and demands divine homage. But among 
these nations there exists another nation whose mem- 
bers form a spiritual kingdom, worship the invisible 
God and look for a divine deliverer. These two forces 
are arrayed against each other now; and employing 
the word in a sense already explained, the world is 
brought to the eve of an awful duel: Jehovah against 
idolatry; God against him who would be god; Christ, 
the deliverer, against Czesar, the enslaver of the souls 
of men. This is what was signified when Octavius 
took to himself the sacred epithet of the gods. 

Surely, then, it is the very fullness of time. If the 
Redeemer is ever to come to. Zion it does seem as Gt 
he must come now. If the deliverer is ever to be 
manifested to Israel it would seem that he must now 
appear. “And indeed he has appeared! The angels 


have sung their songs over Bethlehem, and the decree 
(23) Page 107. 


EXTENT AND SIGNIFICANCE. Aa) 


of the deification of Augustus is promulgated at the 
point midway between the birth of the deliverer and 
his baptism. The final conflict is indeed inaugurated 
and the final victory is foreshadowed. By and by it 
will be acknowledged in the despairing dying cry of one 
of the last of Roman emperors, ‘‘ Nazarene! thou hast 
conquered.’? 


(24) See Ullhorn, Book III, ch. iii. 


CHAPTER X.V |. 


JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


We have completed our sketch of the preparation 
of the world for its Redeemer, and have been brought 
in the course of our studies to the hour of his appear- 
ance. It remains for us in this final chapter to show 
wherein the Redeemer and the Gospel which he pro- 
claimed, fulfilled the desires and satistied the needs of 
the waiting world: To do this at length would require 
another volume. We can only suggest some of its 
principal features. 

Is there any single term in which the whole history 
of the heathen world may be comprehensively defined? 
Which shall embrace in a word its study and its 
strife? its anxieties and aspirations? its fears and its 
failures? May it not all be included in this single 
clause—a struggle after the realization of unity? Let 
us undertake a reply. 


THE STRUGGLE AFTER UNITY. 


The heathen world, though it had lost the knowledge 
of God, perceived as clearly as even we who stand 
in the light of the Gospel, that both the physical and 
the moral creation were in a state of division and 
discord. but was unable to account for it, or correct 
it. The effort of their thinkers from the first was to 
effect harmonization. This is the explanation of all 


460 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


their philosophies; their theories of war, of govern: 
ment; of morals and even of religion. 

1. Physical. Inthe first place they beheld mankind 
divided into diverse races and hostile factions. The 
natural inclination of each separate tribe was to make 
war upon its neighbors. And yet in this condition of 
mutual antipathy there always existed a vague belief 
in the substantial unity of mankind, and the attempt 
was made again and again, often unconsciously, to 
manifest that unity by artificial methods. This attempt 
found its chief expression in the great empires. In 
each the effort was made upon a separate and distinct 
line, and each was to some extent an improvement 
upon its predecessor. 

In the most ancient times, the nations were strictly 
separated from each other; each race lived and labored 
for itself. “There was no common work in which they 
might experience a reciprocal influence and make to- 
gether a common development. In the earliest empires, 
force—brute foree—was the only agency employed, 
and its results were the most unsatisfactory. 

With the overthrow of the early empires their suc- 
cessors undertook the introduction of intellectual ele- 
ments, and we have noted the improvement in the 
condition of the subject races under the Persian and 
Macedonian dominion. Finally appeared the Roman 
empire, the best solution of the problem which it was 
possible for the world to offer. It was the heir of its 
best thought and its best methods, as they had been 
expressed in the empires which preceded it; and it 
added to the physical and intellectual elements which 
had been introduced before, certain moral elements 


THE STRUGGLE AFTER UNITY. 401 


which were displayed in the final development of 
~ Roman law. No more satisfactory attempt could 
possibly be made without the aid of a divine revela- 
‘tion. But the unity of mankind was not yet manifested. 
The old world had not been able to produce from 
itself any such thing as we recognize in Christian uni- 
versalism. ‘There was a degree of uniformity; but no 
illustration of that true unity which only prevails in 
connection with those characteristic individual features 
which Rome would have obliterated. True unity is 
“a comprehension of the manifold under a higher 


2) This: was a limitation 


principle of organization. 
which it was impossible for the thought of the heathen 
world to pass. It looked at humanity from the wrong 
standpoint. Its centre was political, not religious—the 
city of the Cesars, not the City of God. Consequently its 
view was from the circumference after all. It could not 
understand humanity as a whole, and therefore could 
not understand it in its divisions. So the last attempt 
of the heathen world failed, after a noble struggle, as 
all attempts had failed before. Though one might 
proclaim himself a ‘“‘cetézen of the world,” the citizen- 
ship was an artificial one. Men do not become citizens 
of the world until they become citizens of a kingdom 
which is not of this world, and until the latter is real- 
ized they must remain as before, “ hateful and hating 
one another.”’ 

2. Philosophical. There was also a struggle after 
philosophical unity—a struggle as intense as it was 
old. The book of Job furnishes a complete illustration 
of the travail of soul into which one is brought when 


(1) UNhorn, p. 27. 


462 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


he attempts unaided to solve the problems which are 
presented to him in the universe about him. Mind and 
matter seem to be in eternal conflict. .“So soon as men 
begin the study of nature they are made aware of 
the existence of certain forces which seem to them to 
be in irreconcilable ‘antagonism. The one class-seem 
to make for righteousness and peace, the other for evil 
and misery. Dualism is the necessary outcome of such 
studies, and dualism, as we have seen, is the constant 
blemish upon the best thought of heathenism, a blem- 
ish which the best thinkers of the heathen world were 
unable to eradicate. In consequence of the perma- 
nence of this misinterpretation of the universe, all the 
evils and mistakes of heathen philosophy were pro- 
duced: Parseeism, with its two supreme divinities— 
Ormuzd and Ahriman; Polytheism, with its benevolent 
and malevolent divinities; and, in its last stage, the 
eternal conflict between Fate and Virtue®—the final 
mystery and misery of the heathen world. 

3. Other forms of the same struggle were simply 
manifestations in one direction or another of the effort 
to effect this philosophical unity. The heathen world 
attempted to realize it in some individual law of action 
which should produce ethical unity, but they found no | 
standard of morals to which they might appeal, and 
in obedience to which their burdened consciences might 
be at rest. They sought obedience to what they sup- 
posed to be the will of the gods and the law of the 
universe, in practices the most diverse—in some cases 
noble and pure, in others shameful and abominable. 

They endeavored to realize what we would call 


(2) Prophecy and History ; Edersheim, p. 42. 


UNIT L aE TET eTOLTHE GOSPEL. 463 


spiritual unity in some solution of the problems of 
creation and causation. ‘They asked themselves the 
question, Who is the Author of all things? Who is 
the Supreme One, and what is he, and where does he 
reside? What does he expect of his creatures? What 
is obligation? How may we be brought into fellow- 
ship with him?—‘‘ What must I do to be saved?” _ 

But the struggle was a hopeless failure. Discord 
everywhere remained; unity was nowhere realized. 

Weis elie kEYSTOMDHES GOSPEL: 

When we regard the condition of the heathen world 
with reference to its great comprehensive struggle, we 
can give no better answer to the questions which we 
have proposed at the beginning of this chapter, than 
this: that unity is the key to the Gospel, and, in his 
own comprehensive unity,” Christ Jesus is “‘ The Desire 
of all Nations’’—the perfect fulfillment of their hopes 
and the perfect answer to their desires. He himself 
is the answer to all the questions which the world had 
propounded. Wherein the answer? 

1. The Gospel reveals oxe God besides whom there 
is none other; the Creator of the universe, the supreme 
object of adoration. Although he was clearly re- 
vealed to the Jews alone, yet, even in the Old Testa- 
ment, it is made plain that he is not a tribal God, as 
were the gods of the heathen, but the ‘God of the 
whole earth.” In the Gospel, however, this truth be- 
comes luminous, and the words of Jesus, such as he_ 
spake to the woman of Samaria, reveal him as the 
God and Father of all. 

2. The Gospel reveals one Race, with a common 

(2) See Life of Christ, Lange, Book II, Part ii, §1. 


* 


40 4 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


ancestor, in whom it was made in the divine image, 
and all its subsequent divisions the result of its sin. 

3- The Gospel reveals sin as the one cause of all 
sorrow, so that sorrow itself is not the chief misfor- 
tune of the race; but sin, which is something more 
and else than a misfortune. 

4. The Gospel reveals one Redeemer, whose blood 
is shed for all mankind, and in union with whom all 
mankind are to be re-united. In him the “middle wall 
of partition is broken down.” He is the one Master 
in whose presence all men are brethren, and his is the 
one Kingdom in which all men may be fellow-citizens. 

5. The Gospel reveals one destény, unto which the 
race as such, together with the earth, its peculiar 
dwelling-place, is finally to be brought. At last there 
shall be but ‘tone flock and one shepherd.” 

Lhe whole design of the Gospel is concisely and sig- 
nificantly expressed in the words of Paul to the Ephe- 
sians: ‘“ Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit — 
in the bond of peace! There is one body and one 
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” 
As a certain great philosopher, when he was asked to 
give in a single sentence the sum of all philosophy, 
taking up his Bible and turning to the words of the 
Apostle, in the last verse of the eleventh chapter of 
Romans, answered: “ Of Him, and through Him, and 
to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. 
Amen.”® This is the answer of the Gospel. 


(4) Eph. iv: 3-6. (5) Rom. xi: 36. 


UNITY BY RECONCILIATION. 465 


But we are here confronted with a very important 
question: How is the unity of the Gospel actually 
effected? ‘The answer to this question forms the con- 
clusion of all the study in which we have been en- 
gaged. 

We have seen upon the one hand how the world 
was left to itself to work out an experience in which 
it might prove at the same time its own helplessness 
and its need of a divine helper; and we have seen 
upon the other hand how a single nation was chosen 
to be distinguished from all other nations of the world 
only in this, that it should receive certain positive 
divine revelations. Humanity had consequently been 
moving along two lines altogether diverse from each 
other, yet tending to the same end; and while, as we 
have seen, there was some association between the 
two classes, their work and place in the providence of 
God were each peculiar and distinct. It was neces- 
sary that there should be upon the one hand, the most 
painful sense of sin, the most intense desire to know 
the truth; and upon the other hand, that there should 
be such knowledge of God and of his benevolent pur- 
pose in connection with the race as should incline the 
mind to a certain hope of deliverance. Without the 
first, a sinful world would not have accepted the 
means of deliverance which was in store for it; and 
without the second the expectation of deliverance 
would have been so vague and confused that it would 
have commanded neither respect nor reception. 

The great mission of the heathen world in the provi- 
dence of God was to teach man ¢o know himself. ‘The 
great mission of the Jewish world was to teach man 


466 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


to know hts God. Each was incomplete in itself. The : 
knowledge of self and the knowledge of God both 
were necessary before unity could be effected; but 
when both should be acquired, unity would be effected 
in the reconciliation of the only elements that were 
actually at variance. At the cross of Christ this two- 
fold knowledge was completed, and the mission of | 
both the Jew and the Gentile world accomplished. 
The cross of Christ sets forth the final conclusion of 
heathen philosophy—a conclusion which heathen phil- 
osophy itself was unable to express. The cross of 
Christ also sets forth the final conclusion of Jewish 
revelation in terms which even the Hebrew prophets 
had been able only to foreshadow. It shows man him- 
self; it shows man his God. Nowhere else in all the 
universe is there such an exhibition of the nature of 
the sin of man and of the extent of its guilt; nowhere 
else is there such an exhibition of the justice and the 
mercy of God. Here, and only here, “mercy and truth 
are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed 
each other.” 

The cross of Christ, therefore, presented the only 
answer to the great problem of heathenism, in that it | 
set forth the only real source of discord and the only 
reliable method whereby unity might be effected. Man 
and God were the elements at variance—man in his 
sin, God in his holiness. The cross of Christ brings 
them together. It introduces a mediator, the missing 
factor in all heathen philosophy, the exclusive revelation 
of divine religion. “In Jesus Christ,” says Pascal, “all 
contradictions are reconciled.” The Gospel represents 


(6) Ps, lIxxxv: Io. 


UNITY IN THE INCARNATION. 4647 


God as now reconciled to man, and beseeches man to 
be reconciled to God. If this be accomplished all is 
accomplished, and there is an end of all discord. Man 
is not only reconciled to brother man, but he is recon- 
ciled to the whole universe. The very war of the 
elements is in process of abatement, and the collision 
of physical forces is arrested. Man goes out with joy, 
and is led forth with peace; the mountains and the 
hills break forth before him into singing, and all the 
trees of the field clap their hands.” All things con- 
spire to a single blessed end, and work together for 
good to those who have first been reconciled to God. 
It is for these reasons, then, that we call the cross of 
Christ a comprehensive unity; it speaks the message 
of reconciliation. In it the two paths upon which 
humanity had been led, converge at a point which is 
central, both as to place and time, in the history of the 
world. Thus, whether men wiil receive it or not, the 
cross of Christ divides that history; Calvary is its focal 
point and “ Jesus and the resurrection ”’ is its key. 


UNIFY IN THE INCARNATION. 


But there is an element in addition to mere recon- 
ciliation in which the unity of the Gospel is effected. 
This element is implied in reconciliation, as its conclu-~ 
sion and its crown. It expresses the answer of the 
Gospel to heathenism on the practical side, as reconcil- 
iation expresses that answer upon the philosophical; 
and while it is itself the supreme product of revelation, 
it furnishes a beautiful and striking contrast to the 
supreme product of heathenism. 


(7) Is. lv: 12. 


468 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


What was the supreme product of heathenism on its 
practical side—the final outcome of its unbelief? We | 
have already found the answer in the worship of the ' 
emperor. We have also found that the worship of the 
emperor is the last and most complete form of an idol- ~ 
atry, such as had often been observed, and in which it 
had always reached its climax. Human impiety can- 
not reach a higher pitch of audacity; nor human 
depravity a lower depth of degradation. This is posi- 
tively the end—self-worship; the deification of man. 

But we are bound to observe that this form of idol- 
atry is never manifested except in an age of great 
intellectual activity and after a career of brilliant: 
wordly success. It never obtains among savages; nor 
even among the semi-civilized. We have observed on 
the contrary that it obtains in Egypt under her might- 
iest monarch; in Babylon under her “head of gold,” 
in Rome under her “august”? emperor. It is evident , 
that it is not characteristic of fresh departure from God; | 
but of that stage which succeeds to earnest thought 
and prolonged speculation. It is characteristic of the 
final struggle after truth, wherein the truth is earnestly 
attempted; but attempted in a spirit which is totally 
incapable of understanding it, and which therefore 
results in the deeper error. 

It has been true of the sinful race as a whole, as it is 
often true of the individual sinner, that like the be- 
wildered wanderer, he is perchance never so hopelessly 
lost as when he stands opposite the door of his own 
father’s house; but with his back, not his face, to the 
threshold. It was this that constituted the fullness of 
time and brought the heathen world within call when 


GNGLT LIN LIL INCARNATION. 409 


the apostles went forth with the cry ‘“ The Kingdom of 
Heaven is at hand.” The thought of the heathen 
world had swung round to monotheism again; which 
while it was a monotheism cold, abstract and indefi- 
nite, nevertheless brought it within the reach of the 
invitation of the Gospel. So also the practice of the 
heathen world in the deification of man, had moved 
on to the very meridian of the Cross, albeit at a point 
which was absolutely antipodal. Nevertheless it was 
the same meridian. The Gospel therefore contained 
the answer to the deep desire which was thus expressed 
—a blessed truth which was the perfect polaric con- 
trast of this accursed error. That truth was contained in 
the incarnation. ( The error did not reside in the wor- 
ship of a divine man, but in the worship of a deified 


man. \The whole race, including the heathen’ world, : 


was seeking for a divine man. But like those old 
Chinese sages who, following the universal yearning, 
went forth to the west seeking a divine teacher and 
brought back only Buddha; so the search of the heathen 
world ended not at the feet of the divine man, but at 
the shrine of a deified one. The universal yearning, 
however, is sufficient evidence that some such being 
was a spiritual necessity. The seeking soul of heath- 
enism had been led sadly astray, in a long, long voyage 
over a stormy sea, and now sought to anchor in the same 
treacherous shallows which it had before approached, 
in its desperate self-deception, with no chart to cuide, 
and with a compass whose deviation they had no 
means of compensating. Nevertheless the instinct 
even of the heathen soul was not wholly obliterated, 
and by means of that which remained of it, though 


470 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


sadly perverted, it was providentially guided to a point 
whence the sea was clear and the course straight to 
Him who was at once very God and very man, though 
it led through a whole hemisphere. 

Let us drop the figure and say in plain words that 
the step from the worship of the emperor to the wor-. 
ship of God in Christ was both great and radical. It 
was complete inversion/ Instead of the worship of a man 
who sought to become fod, was substituted the wor- 
ship of God who had indeed become man. ) The wor- 
ship of the emperor, therefore, prepared the mind for 
the reception of the Gospel, inasmuch as the most sub- 
lime truth of revelation furnished the complete answer 
to the final culmination of heathenism. While in the 
worship of the emperor an external uniformity was 
artificially created, the departure from substantial unity 
was rendered all the greater. Man was separated yet 
farther from God and brought into deeper antagonism 
with himself by the pretended advancement of a man 
to a position infinitely beyond his fellows. But the 
very opposite is effected in the incarnation. God comes | 
down to men; God is manifest in the flesh. The God- 
man becomes a perfect mediator, and absolute unity is 
the blessed consequence. In that mediator God and 
man are at one; not by any artificial elevation of man, 
but through the actual condescension of God. 'The 
exaltation of man follows as an imperative sequence. 

“The God of glory down to men 
Removed his blest abode; 
Men, the dear objects of his grace, 
And He their loving God.” 

This is an assimilation to the divine absolutely unlike 

in kind anything that heathenism ever conceived, and 


THE PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. AI 


infinitely more complete. It is more than fellowship; 
wt ts sonshtp. And this is the Gospel! ‘This is the 
meaning of ‘‘ Jesus and the resurrection.” 


DHE PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. 


In corroboration of the conclusions which we have 
reached we adduce, finally, the preaching of the apos- 
tles. It will be observed that they apprehended the 
situation and endeavored to meet it. We take, as an 
illustration, what may be considered as the most com- 
plete specimen of apostolic preaching to the heathen 
which is recorded—the address delivered by the Apos- 
tle Paulinthe Areopagus. Let us observe the method 
which he pursued in presenting Christ to them in the 
very seat of their own false philosophy and mistaken wor- 
ship.® Let it be remembered that he had now reached 
the chief intellectual centre of the ancient world— 
Athens; which had given it language, thought and 
beauty; which had taught it philosophy, rhetoric, 
science and art; where Socrates had lived and labored; 
where Plato had written the Republic, and from which 
had emanated all of its most important theories. He 
was obliged to wait in Athens for a few days for the 
coming of Silas and Timothy; and we read that “his 
spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly 
given to idolatry.” He first conversed with the Jews 
in their own synagogues, where he also met certain 
“ devout persons,” such as have been described in the 
preceding chapter. He also disputed in the market 
with the heathen whom he there encountered. Here 
he met the representatives of the last great schools of 


(8) See a fine Analysis in Schaff’s Church History, § 73. 


472 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


Greek philosophy, the Epicureans and Stoics; and thus 
the Gospel came in contact with the final phase of 
thought in the heathen world. Stoicism and Epicurean- 
ism—the one with its pantheism, the other with its 
materialism, both with their pessimism, encountered 
the religion of Jesus. Their feverish desire to listen to 
something new is also expressed in their comments 
upon his theories. ‘“‘ He seemed to be a setter-forth of 
strange gods,” and they were therefore anxious to hear 
him at some length. He preached to them, “ Yesus 
and the Resurrection: Jesus, the Mediator between 
God and man; the resurrection of Jesus, as affording 
the sure ground for the hope of immortality. They 
brought him to.the Areopagus, declaring that, they 
desired to know “what these things meant;” and 
Paul, in the sermon which he delivered in response to 
their invitation, sets forth in every sentence that he 
utters, the answer of the Gospel to some characteristic 
phase of heathen worship, philosophy or belief. His 
first sentence is, ““Ye men of Athens J perceive that 
in all things ye are too superstitious,’ in which there 
is a distinct reference to the endless multiplication of 
their divinities. He proceeds to say that he had found 
an altar with this inscription, ‘To the Unknown God,” 
to which altar we have already made several refer- 
ences. Notwithstanding their multitudinous deities, this 
altar was, as Paul implied, the expression of their 
virtual, though abstract monotheism. Standing in 
that magnificent city which had been the teacher of 
the world, it sadly proclaimed that there was a limit 
even to the knowledge of the wisest Athenians; that 
there was one matter concerning which they were incap- 


ee 
—— 


THE PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. 473 


able of instructing the world, and that matter the most 
important of all. Such ignorance was dense and deadly. 
If there was only one god whom they knew not, the 
eulf in their knowledge wasa bottomless abyss! They 
knew not God! In spite of the multiplication of their 
gods and goddesses, this gulf was impassable. ‘There- 
fore, this Unknown God Paul proceeded to declare unto 
them. Inthe next sentence he defines him, in words 
which are at once most concise and most comprehen- 
sive. This Unknown God is the sole Creator, and the 
Creator of al/ things. Ue is Lord not of one nation- 
ality, nor of one portion of the universe, but he is the 
“Tord of heaven and-earth.” He is a-spirit. “* He 
dwells not in temples made with hands.” He cannot 
be worshiped by the gross material methods which 
they had observed. He is not in need of such offer- 
ings as they had been accustomed to render to him. 
He has all fullness in himself. ‘He giveth to all life 
and breath and all things.” The unity of God, as Paul 
declares, implies the unity of the human race. ‘“ He 
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 
on all the face of the earth.” He is the author of pro- 
vidence as well as the author of creation, and human 
history has been ever subject to his control. “ He 
hath determined the times before appointed and the 
bounds of their habitation.” Then follows a declara- 
tion for the sake of which this, our book, has been 
written, in which the Apostle declares the divine pur- 
pose in his providence. “That they should seek the 
Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, 
though he be not far from every one of us.” The 
difficulty in their search for God did not reside in his 


474 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


distance from them, but in their distance from him, / 
through the blindness. which sin had produced. Then, 
as he had declared that God was the creator of all 
things, and so before all and over all, he now proceeds 
to declare that God is also immanent in all things, “In 
him we live, and move and have our being;” and he 
supports the declaration by a quotation from one of 
their own poets. His conclusion is drawn with remark- 
able courtesy, as though he would give them the credit 
for the argument rather than take it to himself. Allud- 
ing to the splendid monuments of art in gold and silver 
and marble, which stood ‘in such profusion around him, 
he taught them, even from that which they themselves 
had admitted, that his fundamental proposition should 
also be their own final decision—that the God-head 
could not be “like unto gold or silver or stone, graven 
by art and man’s device.”” He had therefore come to 
call them to repentance. The times of ignorance were 
over; the times of certain knowledge were at hand. 
This Almighty, Eternal, Invisible Spirit “had come 
down in the likeness of men,” in the person of that 
“man whom he had ordained.” He had “ given assur- 
ance unto all men,” in that this divine man had estab- 
lished his divine nature and claim by an actual resur- 
_ rection from the dead, and an actual ascension to glory, 
which infinitely surpassed in power as it challenged in 
reality the apotheosis of the Czsars, 

The offer of reconciliation was thus distinctly stated. 
Should they refuse it they would be held to account in 
that “‘day appointed of God” when he would “ judge 
the world in righteousness” by that very mediator 


whom he had appointed and whom Paul had now 
presented. 


CONCLUSION. — 475 


The sequel might have been anticipated. Some 
mocked, while others listened with such _ interest 
that they desired to hear him again. A number, 
however, were convinced, believed and received the 
Saviour, among whom were two important persons, 
one of them a member of the tribunal in whose court 
the apostle had proclaimed the Gospel. Such, then, 
was the preaching of the Gospel. This is a fair illus- 
tration of the way in which it was presented to the 
people of that age, It meant, as in this address of 
the apostle Paul, “Unity; unity by reconciliation 
through a mediator. _ It meant forgiveness of sin 
through his blood, and fellowship with God through his 
person. The Epicureans and Stoics who listened to 
Paul discovered that they both had sought for unity 
and peace in a false reconciliation. In the preaching 
of Jesus and the resurrection, the Gospel substituted 
for the intense desire which they both manifested to 
escape from sorrow, a deeper determination to be rid 
of sin. It substituted for the pursuit of happiness to 
which they were given, the development of holiness. 
It substituted for the service of self, in which they 
were engaged, the service of another. It transferred 
the scene and scope of its hope from the present, in 
which all their desires centered, to the future. It fol- 
lowed time with eternity. 

CONCLUSION. 

And this is the preaching of Gospel still; the only 
refuge of a sinful world. “Jesus!” the redeemer of 
men; ‘‘ The Resurrection!” eternal life in his presence. 


A writer in a recent review™ calls attention to the 
(9) The Scottish Review ,; Oct. 1889. 


470 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


singular character and work of Florence Wilson, bet- 
ter known among scholars as Florentius Volusenus. 
History has played fast and loose with his reputation, 
but he was in his day a most distinguished man. He 
was the protege of four cardinals, the confidential cor- 
respondent of ‘Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of 
Essex, and enjoyed a wide celebrity among other per- 
sons prominent in both church and state. He is best 
known to us by his once famous work upon the 7ran- 
guilty of the Soul, originally published at Lyons, in 
1543. Its form is that of a dialogue between himself 
and two friends. The scene is laid in a garden, situ- 
ated on the heights overlooking the city of Lyons, 
probably in the suburb called Fourviers. Here ina 
shady retreat the three friends had met to while away 
the hours of the day in sober and improving discourse. 
Volusenus selects a subject at the suggestion of his 
friends, Peace of Mind, and at their request proceeds 
to explain its nature, its advantages, and the means of 
acquiring it. After a variety of discourse upon the 
subject, in which, after reviewing the teachers of phi- 
losophy and showing how they fail to produce the state 
of mind which they all profess or at least aim to obtain; 
he shows that in the teachings of Christianity alone 
true peace of mind is to be found, and concludes with 
the relation of a dream or vision which appeared to 
him, and from which we learned his own philosophy. 
In this dream, which occurred in the happy days of his 
youth, he saw a magnificent temple situated on a little 
hill, at whose foot was a meadow through which he had 
been wandering. The temple was of great extent, 
built with consummate art, encircled with a wall. At 


CONCLUSION. 477 


its gate sat an old man of venerable aspect to whom 
Volusenus applied for admission to enter. The request 
was granted. The old man took him by the hand and 
led him within the enclosure. Stopping at a porch 
which was supported by eight pillars, he directed his 
attention to the fact that each bore an inscription upon 
it. Volusenus examined these and found that each 
embodied a leading doctrine from some philosophical 
school. ‘The examination of these upon the part of 
Volusenus leads to the conclusion that beautiful as they 
may be in themselves, and valuable to humanity, they 
are hopelessly wanting in vital influence. Volusenus 
thereupon kneels down and prays for light from heaven, 
showing the way to peace and rest. His prayer is 
heard. Looking up he sees another hill higher than 
the one on which he is standing; and on this hill, 
reached by a straight and narrow path, there stands 
another temple infinitely more beautiful than the first. 
As he approaches its gates there meets him a man in 
whose countenance shines a certain celestial majesty. 
Saint Paul, for it is he, bids Volusenus be of good 
cheer, and pointing to the inscription upon the front of 
the temple bids him read it: ‘‘ Blegsed are they that 
dwell in thy house.” His guide then tells him that 
this is the haven of rest for which he has been so long 
in search, and directs his attention to the two columns 
which adorn the entrance. On one is inscribed the old 
proverb of Greek philosophy, ‘‘ Know thyself;”” on the 
other, ‘‘Know thy God.” Finally pointing to the arch 
which these two columns support he shows him sculp- 
tured there the image of Christ—crowned with thorns; 
his side, his hands and his feet pierced with wounds, 


478 FESUS AND THE RESURRECTION. 


and his body streaming with blood. Above his head 
appear the words, ‘‘ This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased; hear him!” beneath his feet the in- 
scription, ‘“‘I am the way, the truth and the life.””. Then 
for the the first time Volusenus understood wherein 
true tranquility of mind could be found, and awoke 
from his dream. 

Volusenus is the type of the thoughtful man of the 
ages, and his experience is that of all who have finally 
arrived at rest. He is the type of all the men of God 
to whom the knowledge of his salvation has been vouch- 
safed, whether they lived before Christ or after him; 
Abraham, and Moses and David and Isaiah, as truly 
as Peter and James and John and Paul. Job entered 
the haven of rest by the same path; so also did Diony- 
sius the Areopagite. We are admitted by the same 
door to-day. The entrance is between the two columns 
which were centuries in building and beneath the arch 
of which Christ is the crown. A‘now thyself! Know — 
thy God! ‘We must know each, and know both, as 
they are brought together in the substantial unity of 
the Redeemer and in the reconciliation of his cross. 
The truth is made very plain by providential history 
and absolutely luminous in the Gospel. Blessed are 
they that apprehend it, and looking up to that crucified 
but risen Redeemer pronounce in faith and love the 
prayer of the penitent publican, ‘‘ God be merciful to me 
a stnner.” 


SD ERE uaa 


INGE) Eee 


Abraham.—Preparation of World 
begins with 11; His Migration, 
12, 42; Providential History, 39, 
404; Chosen of God, 42; Call, 


bor 

A We epi Races.— Other than 
Jews, 47. 

Abydos, Temple of —81. 

Actium. Battle of. —320, 447. 

A holiab.—1\27. 

Alexander Balas —350. 

Alexander ‘the Great.—Birth, 239; 
Way prepared, 239 ; Accession, 
242: Invades Asia, 243; Con- 
quests, 245; Influence Gl acd7.; 
Bunal, 265 ; and Jews, 275. 

Alexandria.—F¥ ounded, 264; Jews 
in, 280. 

Allegorical Method—Applied to 
Homer, 291; Adopted by the 
Grecians, 292. 

Amelek.—135. 

Anaximander.—211. 

Angel of the Covenant.—142, 174. 

Antioch. — Founded,. 260; De- 
scribed, 261; Jews in, 263; Chris- 
tian Church of, 264. 

Antiochus the Great.—3A4l. 

Antiochus Epiphanes.—341, 367. 

Antigonus.— Defeat of, 260. 

Antonius.—320, 414. 

Aphobis (Apept).—His Reign, 68 ; 
Defeat of, 76. 

Apocrypha.—Of the N. T., 289. 

Appian Way.—330, 399. 

Appius Claudius.—330. 

A pollos.— 445. 

Aratbia.—Early Culture in, 54. 

Arads.—Influence of, 49. 

Arbela, Battle of —247. 

Architecture of Egypt—z79, 81. 

Aristotle.—Influence. 233; Friend 
of Alexander, 248; Atheistic, 


392. 

Ark of the Covenant.—173, 174. 

A smone@ans.—343, 352. 

Atomistic School,—215. 

Augustine—View of the Logos, 
300 ; Conversion, 402. 

Augustus Cesar,—Accession, 319 ; 
Religious Efforts, 307 ; Wealth, 
407 ; Peace, 410; Armies, 410; 
Epicurean, 411; Gifts, 421; 
Games, 422 ; Crowning Sorrow, 


426 ; Immortality, 427; Deifica- 
tion, 447. 

A varis.—67. 

Baal.—See Sutekh. 

Baal-Zebub.—76. 

Baal-Zephon.—76. 

Baba.—7o. 

Babylon.—Under Nebuchadnezzar, 
188; Fall, 193; Jewish Commu- 
nity, 287. 

Bacchanalia.—428. 

Batlos ( Belbets).—73. 

Bak-en-Khonsu.—81. 

Balaam.—162. 

Belshazzar.—i93- 

Bezaleel,—127. 

eggs in Egypt.—ogi; Effects, 
126; 

Book of the Covenant.—14o. 

Brazen Serpent.—146. 

BYR VATS Ol. 

Brutus.—320. 

Bubastis.—65. 

Cadmus.—52. 

Cesarea.— 358. 

Caligula. —a4lit, 418. 

Canaan.—Location, Size, Seclu- 
sion, 13; Sea Coast, 19; High- 
ways, 20, 35; Springs, 25; Vege- 
table products, 27; Minerals, 
30; Population, 31; Accessibil- 
ity, 35; Early Culture in, 53; Is- 
raelites Enter, 147; Condition 
at Conquest, 151; Land of Prom- 
ise, 161; Under the Judges, 167; 
Conquest of, 168. 

Capua.—330, 423. 

Cato.—389, 418. 

Ceremonial Law.—143. 

Chaldza.—In days of Abraham, 
11, 40; Language of, 53; He- 
brews return to, 187. 

Cheroneita.—240. 

Chasidim.—358. 

Christ.—Coming foretold to Eve, 
153 ; to Noah, 156; to Patriarchs, 
156; to Moses, 161; by Balaam, 
162; by Moses at Sinai, 163; 
Provision for his Ancestry, 167; 
David’s Son, 176; Nathan's 
prophecy, 177; in the Psalms, 
178; in later prophets, 180; 
Symbolized, 145, 182; Expecta- 
tions of the Pharisees, 183, 36¢, 


480 


436; Birth at Fullness of Time, 
431; Unity in his cross, 467, 

Church.—Founded by Abraham, 
II. 

Cicero.— Religious views, 386, 391; 
his Hortensius, 402; on Slavery, 
416. 

Claudius Cesar.— 420. 

Cleanthes.--Suicide of, 296. 

Clement of Alexandria.—4ol. 

Cornelius.—446. 

Croton.—Colonized, 207; Seat Pyth- 
agorean Philosophy, 212. 

Cyrus.—Conquests, Ig2; and Jews, 
194. 

Dantel.—t190, 307. 

Daphne.—262, 

Darius Codomanus.—246. 

David.—Anointed, 176; Father of 
Messiah, 176; Typical King, 176, 
178. 

Day of Atonement.—144. 

Demetrius.—349. 

Democritus.—215. 

Diadochi.—258. 

Dualism.—In_ early philosophy, 
212, 213, 391; in Platonism, 232, 
234; Eleatic, 214; General influ- 
ence, 462. 

Lbat, Mount.—170. 

Ldomites.—5o. 

Lgypt.—Israel in, 62; under Hyk- 
sos; 64; under . Pharaohs, <81* 
Idolatry, 96; at the Exodus, 111; 
Plagues, 120; Subsequent condi- 
tion, 126. (See “Alexandria.”) 

Eilethyia.—7o. 

Lelamites.—64. 

Llea, School of —213. 

#:41,—Priesthood, 174; Sons, 174; 
Death, 175, 

LEmpedocles.—214. 

£nos.—155. 

Lpaminondas.—240. 

Ephesus.—239. 

Lpicureanism.—Origin and char- 
acter, 393; at Rome, 394; An- 
swered by Paul, 475. 

L:xodus.—i24; Effects, 126. 

feast of the Dedication.— 347. 

Fuliness of Time.—tIn days of 
Abraham, 41; of Moses, 96; of 
Daniel, 190; of Christ, 456. 

Games, Roman.—421. 

Gideon, 173. 

Gladiators.—422. 

Golden A ge.—444. 

CGorgtas.— 347. 

Goshen.—75. 


Greco-Fewish Literature. — 269 


INDEX 


seq.; Forbidden to the Jews, 291. 

Granicus.—246. 

Grecians.—273 seq.; True hybrid, 
275; Date from Alexandria, 275; 
Progress, 277; at Alexandria; 
280; Septuagint, 285; Relation 
to other Jews, 288, 305. (See 
sik ely dle 

Greek Language.—Derivation, 52; 


Providenual Extension, 205, 
237, 331. | 
Greek Philosophy-—209; Thales, 


210; Anaximander, 211; Pytha- 
goras, 212; Xenophanes, 213; 
Empedocles, 214; Democritus, 
215; Sophists, 216; Socrates, 220. 

Greeks.—Mission of, 205; Colonies, 
207; Providential purpose, 208; 
Colonies and Alexander, 251, 
268; Succeeding Immigration, 
252; Effects, 252* ‘in =Antiocn 
260; in Rome, 264, 376. 379, 407; 
Influence on Jews, 270; in Alex- 
andria, 271, 280; in Palestine, 
279, Roman Conquest, 313; Cor- 
ruption of Morals, 409; Inquire 
for Jesus; 37, 446. 

Flatasu.—79. 

FTlebrew Race.—Chosen, 43; Vigor, 
43; Language, 51; Monotheism, 
56; Investiture of, 165. (See 
wistaclites.. - “fews.) 

ffeoron.—Described, 34; Founded, 
69. 

fleliopolis—Potiphar’s home, 70; 
Temple, 86; University, 104, 
252; Jewish Center, 283. 

flellenism.—Origin, 252; Culture, 
259; Effect on the Jews, 270, 330. 

Flerod the Great.—355, seq. 

F{tllel.—364. 

ffittites—Treaty with Rameses, 
g2, Power broken by Rameses, 
I51 

flope of Israel—ts51; Primitive, 
153; Patriarchal, 156; National, 
161; Later development, 167 
seq.; Extension of, 371. 

Floreb.—See Sinai. 

Fluman Sacrifices.—42. 

Fyksos.—64; Appearance, 66; Dy- 
nasties, 67; Expulsion of, 76; 
Descendants’ Rebellion, 112. 

lIdealism.—E leatic, 175, 176. 

Ideographic Language.—s\. 

L-en-Moshe.—102, 

Tpsamboul.—85. 

/srael—Meaning of the name, 63; 
Led into Egypt, 63; In Goshen, 
72; Oppression of, 91; Adoption 


INDEX. 


of, 115, 138; Royal Priesthood, 
138; Covenant, 140; Consolida- 
tion of, 337. (see “Hope of Is- 
rael,” ‘‘Hebrew Race,” “Jews.’) 

[ssus .—246. 

Faddua.—275. 

Fericho.—26, 127. 

Fesus Christ—(See “Christ.”) 

Jews.—Baby.onian Captivity, 195, 
337; Multiplication of, 199; Ro- 
man Citizens, 319; in Providen- 
tial history, 432; Dispersion of, 
435; Expectations of, 436; Pro- 
selytes, 442. (See ‘“Grecians,” 
“Tsrael.”’) 

Fesreel.—32. 

Fochebed.—1i02. 

Fob Book of.—46t. 

Fonathan Maccabeus.—349. 

Fohn Baptist.— 370. 

Yordan.—Valley described, 14. 

Foseph.—in Egypt, 63; Regency, 
69; Famine, 70; Marriage, 71; 
Brethren, 72, 74. 

Foshua.—Military Ability, 127, 148; 
Conquests, 168; at Mt. Ebal, 170; 

Fudas Maccabeus.— 345 seq. 

Fuages.—167, 171. 

Julius Cesar.—269; in Gaul, 313, 
316; Character, 314; in Spain, 
B16, mE OMpey,..317,) Lntluence; 
318; Roman Citizenship, 319; 
Religious Views, 388; Mendi- 
cants, 420; Games, 420, 425. 

Fuvenal.—4log. 

Khamus.—112, 

Khartummim.—ti19. 

Koran.—48, 287. 

Latin Language.—Derivation, 52; 
Extension, 331. 

Lebanon.—19, 24. 

Lepidus.—The Consul. 408; The 
Triumvir, 452. 

Levites.—173, 181, 

Livy.—427, 4209. 

*Logos.~Of Philo, 299; of St. John, 
300, 304. 

Lucretius.—Religious Views, 389; 
Epicurean, 395. 

Luctan.—430. 

Luther.—Views of the Koran, 48; 
Translation of Bible, 286. 

Lystas.—347. 

Macedonian Army.—243. 

Macenas.—427. 

Magictans.—Of Egypt, Ilo, 

Marriage.—In Roman Empire, 426 

Mahomet.—47. 

Matertalism.—in Greek Philoso- 
phy, 216. 


451 


Mattathias.—344, 346. 

Medes and Persians.—Origin, 191; 
Character, 192; Religion, I94. 

Meltchizedek —i81. 

Memnon the Rhodian.—246. 

Memphis.—Capital of Hyksos, 66; 
University, 104. 

Mert—See “Thermuthis.” 

Messiah.—See “Christ.” 

Messtanic Expectations.—183, 360, 
430. 

Midianites.—49. 

Miletus —Greek Center, 
Thales, 210. 

Minean Language.—54. 

Mineptah I7,—Succeeds Rameses, 
111; Deification, 117. 

Miriam.—134. 

Modein.—344. 

Monotheism.—Of Hebrews, 56; So- 
Cratic, 227, 237; Intolerance ol, 
377; Heathen, 440, 469, 472. 

Moral Law.—14}3. 

Moses.—Divine Ambassador, I01!; 
Birth, 102; Training, ‘To2, 104} 
Campaigns, 107; Choice, 107; In 
Midian, 110; Return, 111; Exo- 
dus, 124; Wilderness, 129, seq.; 
Death, 147. ‘ 

Naples.—Museum of, 404, 428. 

Nathan.-—Prophecy, 177. ; 

Nebuchadnezzar.—Character, 188; 
Power, 189; Deified, 189; Dream, 


207 } 


07. 

Wersie Golden House, 407; Char- 
acter, 411. 

New Academy.—397. 

Nicanor.— 349. 

Noah.—Descendants Idolaters, 40; 
Preaching, 404. 

Octavius.—See “Augustus.” 

Olivet.—Elevation, 16. 

On.—See “Heliopolis.” 

Ontas.—282. 

Oppression.— Of Israelites, gI. 

Palestine.—See “Canaan.” 

Palestinian Literature.—359. 

Panthetsm.—214, 216. 

Parseetsm.—462. 

Passover.—First, 124; Under Judg- 
eset ya 

Paul.—Typical Grecian, 275, 445; 
At Athens, 471. 

Pentateuch.—55; 
Alexandria, 285. 

Pentaur.—84. 

Persian Empire.—t92, seq., 238. 

Petrontus.—4oo. 

Pharisees.—Expectations of, 183, 
360; Origin, 361. 


Translated at 


482 


Phenician Language.—Antiquity, 
2. 

Phenicians.—206. 

Philip of Macedon.—240. 

Philo.—Ancestry, 293; Education, 
294; Peculiar Work, 295, seq.; 
Effects, 303. 

Phineas.—127. 

Pi-Beseth.—See “Bubastis.” 

Pilate.—308. 

Pillar of Cloud.—133. 

Pisgah.—\48. 

Pity.—Altar of, 425. 

Plato.—230; Republic, 231; Dual- 
ism, 232; Influence, 233; Mono- 
theism, 44I. 

Platonism.—And_ Grecians, 289; 
Philo, 294, 300, 302; At Rome, 
397; 398. we 

Pliny (The Elder).— Religious 
Views, 388, 389, 441; Stoicism 
of, 397; Brutality, 425. 

Pliny (The Younger).—Religious 
Views, 400. 

Plutarch. —489. 

Pollio.—444. 

Polytheism.—Chaldzan, 41; Egyp- 
tian, 86; Roman, 376; Babylo- 
nian, 194; Xenophanes, 214; 
Socrates, 227; Tolerance, 229; 
Reaction, 440; Final Stage, 462. 

Pompett.— 403. 

Pompey.—313, 315; And Julius 
Czesar, 319; Wealth, 407. 

Potiphar.—7o; Daughter of, mar- 
ried to Joseph, 71. 

Prophet like Moses.—16}3. 

Proselytes.—442. 

Ptolemy Epiphanes.—34l. 

Ptolemy Lagus.—266, 268. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus.—268, 285. 

Ptolemy Philometer.—282. 

Pythagoras.—212. 

Ra,—88; 90; 117. 

Rabbis.—362. 

Rameses—Assyrian Descent, 82; 
Conquests, 84; Building, 78; At 
Tanis, 86; Oppressor of He- 
brews, 91; Treaty with Hittites, 
92; Deified, 97, 117; University 
Thebes, 104; Defeat of Hittites, 
I51. 

Ramesseum.—85; Library of, 106. 

Ra-Sekenen.—77. 

Roman Citizenshif.—327, seq. 

Roman Colonies.—328. 

Roman Law.—312. seq. 

Roman Roads.—In Palestine, 20; 
Imperial, 330. 

Rome.—Greek Influence in, 268; 


INDEX. 


Early History of, 310; Con- 
quests, 312; Empire, 313; Re- 
forms of Ceesar, 318; Under Au- 
gustus, 319; Travelers, 330; Cen- 
ter of Influence, 333; Imperial 
Character, 334; Corruption of, 
376, seq., 406 seq.; Religious 
Liberty, 376; Superstition, 380; 
Early Virtues, 405; Military 
Power, 410; Population, 410 
(note); Social Decline, 413, seq.; 
Slaves, 416; Mendicants, 419; 
Games, 421; Worship of Em-. 
peror, 453, 468, 470. 
Ruth.— Book of, 168, 172. 

Sadducees.— 365, seq. 

Salatis.—66. 68. 

Samuel.—Childhood, 174; Prophet, 
174; Anoints Saul, 175; Anoints 
David, 176. 

Sanedrin.—368. 

Saracens.—48, seq. 

Sargon [.—41; Tradition of Birth, 
102. 

Saul.—t76. 

Scribes.—Origin of, 198, 362. 

Seed of Abraham.—158. 

Seed of the Woman.—154. 

Seleucitde.— Influence of, 
Found Antioch, 260. 

Semitic Empires-—Calling of, 61. 

Seftuagint,—285, seq. 

Seneca.—Religious Views, 390, 398; 
Stoicism, 396; Suicide, 397; On 
Marriage, 426; On Immorality 
of Rome, 429. 

Set.—See “Sutekh.” 

Seth.—155. 

Sett, House of.—103. 

Seti .—81; Wife of, 82. 

Seti J7—Reconquers Delta, 114; 
Influence, 121; Death, 123. 

Shammat.—364. 

Shechem.— Described, 33. 

Shem.—156. 

Shepherd King’s.—See “ Hyksos.” 

Szmon.—The Cyrenian, 446. 

Simon Maccabeus.—351. 

Simon Zelaies.—354. 

Simplon Pass,—17. 

Sinaz.—1o4; Israel at, 137. 

Socrates,—Early Life, 219; Teach- 
ing, 220, seq.; Death, 224. 

Socratic Philosophy.—Iinfluence of, 
224, 387. 

Sodom.—And Pompeii, 404. 

Sophists.—Rise of, 216; Influence, 
217; Corrected by Socrates, 224; 
Origin and Character, 403. 

Star of Facob.— 162. 


260; 


INDEX. 


Stoicism.—And the Grecian, 289; 
Philo, 300, 302; At Rome, 394; 
Answered by Paul, 475. 

Strabo.—Quoted, 98, 435, 441. 

Suetontus.—444. 

Sutekh.—76; Worshipped by Ram- 
eses, 89. 

Suez Canalo. 

Sylla.—313, 406. 

Syllabte Languages.—Unsuited to 
Revelation, 51. 

Synagogue.—Origin, 198; Exten- 
Sion, 436. 

Syrian Desert.—\7. 

Tacitus.— Religious Views, 389, 444 

Tanis.—Under Hyksos, 68; Des- 
troyed, 78; Rebuilt by Rameses, 
86; Described, 87; Temples of, 
88: Scene of Divine Interven- 
tion, 99. 

Tabernacle.—144. 

Tel-el-Armana.—5}3. 

Temple.—369. 

Terence.—329. 

Thales.—z210. 

Thebes.—Residence of Rameses, 
86; University, 103. 
Thebes (Greece).—240. 

Theocracy.—139. 

Thermuthts.— 102. 

Thothmes III.—8o. 


Fae i 


483 


-‘Titus—Festivals of, 422; Siege of 


Jerusalem, 444. 

Trajan.— -423. 

Triumph, Roman —4l12. 

Tua.—82. 

Typhon.—76. 

“Unknown God.’—Aspirations of 
Socrates, 227; Of Plato, 234, 392; 
Declared by Paul, 472. 

Unity.—In Hebrew Religion, 166; 
Struggles of Heathenism, 459; 
Key to Gospel, 463, seq.; In Re- 
conciliation, 465; In Incarnation, 
467. 

Universal Emptres.—309. 

Ur.—4z2. 

Varro.—On Slavery, 387; Mono- 
theism, 441. 

Virgil—Confiscation of his Prop- 
erty, 414; Pollio, 444. 

Volusenus.—476. 

Wilaerness Sinaitic.— Described, © 
1Ss81 30; 

“ Wisdom.’ —290. 

“Wise Men.” —37, 446. 

Word, The.—See “ Logos.” 

Xenophanes.—21}3. 

Zealots.—439. 

Zeno.—393; Suicide of, 396. 

Zephon.—76. 

Zoan.—See “ Tanis.” 


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